Sempre
by katerinavalentine
Summary: "I hope April gets cursed with twins... she'd deserve the pain." "I heard that!" THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER 1 SLIGHTLY M RATED.
1. Chapter 1

**SEMPRE**

August 20th

Cat let out a small breath as Robbie's lips pressed against her neck. She'd be lying if she denied that it felt good. Her neck contained her sweet spot. The spot that drove her crazy and he knew it. He did it on purpose, just to arouse her, and tonight, it was working extra fast. She didn't know if it was because she was finally ready to take that next big step with her boyfriend, or if it was because she was genuinely aroused, but whatever it was, she liked it. As his lips moved along her neck, her hand raised and her fingers slid through his curly hair as she let out a soft moan when his hips pressed into hers as she was laid on her bed. She knew there was a bit of nervousness there somewhere.

She and Robbie had slept together once before. It was two years ago, after the sophomore dance. They went back to Robbie's place, they were a little drunk, and they had sex. They both remembered it and they both admitted that it wasn't a horrible first time, but they vowed to never have sex again because they were best friends. That was then. This is now. Then, they were best friends so sex would have been awkward past the first time. Now they were a couple and had been talking about having their "first time" for a few months now. They'd just celebrated their year anniversary and decided that the next "big" step they'd take was sex, but as a couple instead of as friends.

Her hips grinded into his gently as his lips traveled from her neck to her collar bone, to which they then traveled back up to nibble on her earlobe and back to that spot he was focused on that was dangerously close to her sweet spot.

Why did they think that sex was a good idea in the middle of a party that her sister was throwing? Simple. Everyone else was downstairs and they were upstairs in her room with the door locked. Well... hopefully the door was locked, anyways.

His hands sliding down her sides felt good. In fact, anytime he touched her, she felt electrified. It was surreal. Just like this moment in time.

As his hands crept up her skirt and his thumbs hooked into the sides of her panties, she lifted her bottom up a little so he could slide them off of her. As she saw the pink blur of them fly across the room, she let her eyes close and she just enjoyed the sensation he was giving her just by running his fingers over her nether region over her skirt.

"Mm..." she moaned lightly.

"Good?" Robbie whispered.

She nodded. "Oh, yeah..."

"It's about to get a lot better," he spoke before kissing down her chest.

* * *

October 23rd

 _9 weeks later_

"How are you feeling, honey?" Tara Valentine asked her daughter.

Cat sniffled, shaking her head. "Horrible. I just puked my life way."

"Does that mean you just flushed your life down the toilet?" Her sister asked with a laugh.

Cat glared at her for a few seconds. "I hope you catch the flu."

"Don't be mad at me because I decided to get vaccinated."

"I don't like needles!" Cat whined.

"Don't whine," Tara said. "April, leave your sister alone."

It was almost hard to believe that they were even related. Cat with her red and normally flat ironed-and-then-curled hair, April with her natural curly-from-the-root brunette hair. Cat with her bubbly personality and not-so-smart moments, April with her more mellow personality and her annoyingly intelligent moments. The only thing that made it known that they were even related was that they looked exactly alike in the face due to being identical twins.

"Well, if you're up to it, we can run to urgent care. We might sit there a while but they might be able to give you something to make you feel better," Tara said.

Cat thought for a few seconds before nodding. "I don't care, I'm just tired of feeling horrible. No one pukes for a week straight without being some sort of deathly sick."

"Or other options," April said.

"You hush," Tara said. "Go get your shoes on and we'll go. April, you're coming too, get up."

"What? Why me?" she asked with a whine.

"Because you're giving your sister a hard time and I don't trust you."

"Why not?"

"Last time Mom was out of the house you threw a party," Cat reminded her.

"No one got hurt."

"Children got **drunk** ," Tara said. "And had **sex** in my house."

Cat walked away, in search of her shoes and April glared after her for a second.

"Something's not right with that girl," April said.

"Yeah, that's why we're going to urgent care, honey; keep up."

* * *

Cat groaned, walking out of the urgent care bathroom. She'd just thrown up for the second time and she felt miserable. She desperately wanted to feel better.

"Caterina Valentine," a nurse called.

"That's me," Cat said.

"Follow me."

Tara and April stood up, following Cat and the nurse down a hallway and into an examination room.

"Alright, take a step up here on the scale," the nurse said.

Cat stepped up onto the scale and she watched the numbers. She was used to getting her weight checked, but what she wasn't used to was the number it displayed when it finally stopped.

"132," the nurse said.

"Holy chipotle," Cat said. "I've never been over 120, are you sure that's the right weight?"

"We can try it again if you'd like. Step off and step back on."

Cat did as she was told and sighed when the number showed up the same.

"132," the nurse repeated. "Maybe you just gained a little summer weight. Don't worry about it, it's perfectly normal. If you'll sit up here on the table, I need to check your blood pressure and temperature."

Cat stepped off of the scale and pulled herself up onto the table. A black cuff was placed on her arm and the nurse was silent while she took it.

"142 over 93," the nurse said as she removed the cuff from Cat's arm.

"That's a bit high for a sixteen-year-old isn't it?" Tara asked.

"It is, but I'm sure her not feeling well has something to do with it. I just need to check your temp now," she said as she grabbed a thermometer. "Under the tongue."

It only took a few seconds for her temp to read out.

"98.7, perfectly normal. Now, can you tell me what your symptoms are?" The nurse asked as she grabbed a clipboard.

"Um..." Cat sniffed. "I've been getting headaches a lot. A couple times a day, actually."

"How long has this been going on?"

"About a week or so."

"Alright. I see you stated you've been vomiting, how long has that been going on?"

"About the same, a week."

"Any fatigue or tiredness?"

"A lot."

"Any aches or pains?"

"My boobs have been really sore lately, but I figured it's just because I don't feel very good."

"Alright. When was your last period?"

"A couple wee..." Cat trailed off. "Hm..."

"You don't remember?"

"No... April, when was your last period?"

"I got off Wednesday," April said.

"I didn't get mine. What about the one before that?"

"It ended the 20th, I think."

"That was around what, the party?"

"Yeah."

"...I didn't get that one either."

The nurse nodded. "Alright. I'm gonna have you follow me to our blood lab and take a few blood tests and I'm gonna have you take a urine sample, alright? Mom and sister can stay here or come with you."

"I'd rather do it by myself," Cat said, carefully getting off of the table.

"Alright. Just follow me, it won't take long."

Fifteen minutes later, Cat was back in the room, this time dressed in a medical gown, sitting on the table and swinging her feet back and forth. April had climbed up with her to play with her hair, and a few minutes later a doctor walked in with a machine.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Wilson," the doctor said with a bright smile. "Woah. Double trouble. Which one of you is Caterina?"

"Me," Cat said.

"Alright. I'm gonna ask Twin B to hop down so I can get you looked at, alright? If you could just lay back on the table and lift your gown up above your belly I can take a look."

Cat let out a small breath and laid back, pulling the gown up and letting it rest just below her breasts.

April snorted. "Nice panties," she muttered about her sister's Hello Kitty printed underwear.

"Shut up, at least I **wear** panties," Cat snapped.

"Hey," Tara said. "Cool it, she was just joking. Leave your sister alone, she doesn't feel good," she said, tapping April's arm.

"Alright, I'm gonna put this gel on your stomach," Dr. Wilson said. "It's gonna be cold."

As Dr. Wilson squirted the gel on her stomach, Cat's eyes widened.

"Oh my god," Cat said. "That's not cold, that's **freezing**."

"I'm sorry," she said with a small laugh.

It was silent for about a minute until a loud whooshing sound emitted from the machine.

"What's that?" Cat asked.

"Oh my god," Tara and April said together.

"Cat, did you ever get those blood and urine results?" Dr. Wilson asked.

"No, they haven't brought them to me yet," Cat said. "What's wrong? Am I okay?"

"You're fine," she said, turning towards Tara. "How stable will she be to hear this?"

"Give it to her cold, she's the one that fucked up," April said, earning a smack on the arm from Tara.

"She'll be fine," Tara said.

"What's going on?" Cat asked.

"Cat, the sound you hear on this machine is a fetal heartbeat," Dr. Wilson said.

"What? A **what**? What's that?"

"It's the heartbeat of a fetus."

"Like... a baby?"

"Exactly."

"Well, how's that possible? I don't have a baby."

"Your blood and urine samples... and this monitor say you do."

"What?"

"You're knocked up," April said.

" **What**?!" Cat shrieked.

"Calm down, honey," Tara said. "Stop freaking her out, April Celine."

"I'm pregnant?"

"That's what all of the results say," Dr. Wilson said.

"But, I... I'm sixteen! I can't have a baby, I **am** a baby!"

"Calm down," Tara said. "We'll talk when we get home, okay? Calm down, let Dr. Wilson finish your ultrasound, and we'll go home and we'll talk."

Cat whimpered as tears filled her eyes, and she looked at the monitor. "...Is that it?" she asked.

Dr. Wilson turned the monitor towards Cat a little more and repositioned the remote on her belly to get a better picture. She pointed to the screen. "This faint outline right here is the water sac. And this mass right here," she pointed inside the bubble, "is your baby. You're about 9 weeks along."

"That's real?"

"As real as you and me."

"Sometimes I don't think I'm real."

"You're very real and so is your baby. I'm gonna get the pictures printed off and I'll have them at the front desk for you, okay?" Dr. Wilson said, wiping Cat's stomach off with a rag. "I know this is really unsettling news, but you'll figure it out. I promise."

* * *

As soon as the Valentine girls got home, Tara ordered April to go to her room while Cat made a beeline for the bathroom. As soon as she was recovered from the umpteenth vomiting episode that day, she met her mother upstairs in her own bedroom and laid down on her bed as Tara laid behind her and kissed her head.

"Do you have any questions?" Tara asked.

Cat sniffled. "I don't understand," her voice cracked. "I thought we were so careful..."

"Sometimes protection doesn't work the way it should, sweetheart... but, this is exactly the reason I tell you girls to tell me if you're sexually active. I know it's embarrassing to talk about with your mom, but I would rather know that you have birth control and protection to prevent this stuff from happening."

"We didn't use protection..."

"Well, then that's how this happened. Why wouldn't you protect yourself?"

"Because, the first time we had sex this didn't happen. We were just fine. And - and he pulled out before he... Mommy, I'm so scared," she sobbed.

"I know, honey," Tara said, hugging her from behind. "But now you know, the pull out method doesn't work. If it did, your brother wouldn't be here," she said, hoping to lighten the mood.

"I'm gonna be made fun of in school... More than people already do. I'm the stupid redhead girl that's best friends with a purple giraffe, now I'm going to be the stupid redhead girl that got pregnant her senior year of high school and ruined her entire life."

"Hey... I know it seems like that right now, but you did not ruin your life. You changed it. I had your brother when I was still in high school."

"Yeah that helps a ton Mom, he's psycho."

"He's special. Not psycho."

"He yells at the stairs."

"Well, they keep making him fall, I'd yell at them too if they were bullies to me."

Cat sniffled and turned around to face her mother, burying her face into her chest. "How come you're not yelling at me?"

"Because I know first hand that yelling doesn't change the fact that there's a baby growing in there. Yelling doesn't change the past. Yelling doesn't change anything, it would just make me seem like a mean, judgmental, hypocritical mom. I'd rather be level headed and supportive."

"Jade's mom would have screamed at her."

"I'm not Grace West."

"Thank god..."

"You need to let Robbie know. It's Robbie's, isn't it?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah..."

"Is there anything you wanna know?"

"Is it gonna hurt when I give birth?"

Tara nodded. "Yeah. But, it's all worth it. I promise."

"I'm gonna die during childbirth, I hate pain..."

"Hey. I gave birth to you and your sister without meds naturally. If I can get through that, then you can get through having one. Dr. Wilson didn't say anything about it being twins, so you're already lucky. You had more chance having twins since you are one."

"Thank god... I hope **April** gets cursed with twins. She'd deserve that pain."

"I heard that!" April shouted from the other side of the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

October 30th

 _10 weeks_

Cat paced back and forth, worry filling her with every second that passed. Today was the day she was telling Robbie about the baby. Today was the day their lives changed forever. Today was the first day of the rest of their lives.

As she heard a knock on her bedroom door, she gasped and froze, unsure of what to do. "Um... come in," she said.

The door opened and Robbie stepped in. "Hey," he said. "What's up?"

"Close the door."

"But... your mom..."

"She knows what this is about. Close the door."

"Okay..." Robbie shut the door and put his hands in his pocket. "So..."

"We have a problem."

"What?"

"It's huge, Robbie, it's gigantic - like one of those big dinosaurs with the long necks."

"That's pretty large..."

"I know!"

"Well then, what is it?"

Cat sighed, running her hands over her face. "Okay... um. Remember at my sister's party? We came up here. We... played Pirates."

"Sex."

"Shh, don't call it that!"

"Fine, Pirates. What about it?"

"Remember how you said you pulled out?"

"Yeah."

"You missed."

"What?"

Cat bit her lip and she walked to her bed, sitting down and patting the spot in front of her for him to take a seat as she got into her nightstand drawer. As Robbie sat down, the redhead pulled out the ultrasound picture she'd been given last week and handed it to him.

"What is this?" Robbie asked. "Kinda looks like a baby alien."

"That's **our** baby alien."

"What?"

"Robbie."

Robbie looked at her.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

Robbie stared her her for a few seconds before looking at the picture again. "...Oh my god, Cat..."

Cat's eyes filled with tears. "I - I'm as confused as you are, but my mom made a really good point about the pull out method not being reliable..."

"I don't... I don't know what to do... I don't know how to take care of a baby, Cat. I'm seventeen years old. You're only sixteen. Oh my god..."

"Please don't be upset with me..." Cat begged.

"I'm not!" Robbie defended. "I'm not, I'm... I'm upset with **myself** , I'm the one that got you into this mess."

"We both had sex, Robbie..."

"I thought you liked calling it Pirates."

Cat shrugged. "That's when I was more immature."

"That was forty-five seconds ago."

They stayed silent for a while. Robbie stared at the ultrasound and Cat stared at Robbie. That was until she broke the silence by jumping up from her bed and rushing into her add-on bathroom, only to kneel in front of the toilet and start vomiting. Robbie laid the picture on the bed and rushed in after her, holding her hair back. It took a few minutes for her stomach to settle, but when she was finished getting sick, Robbie flushed the toilet and helped her stand up and walked her to the sink so she could rinse out her mouth and brush her teeth. She took twice as long to brush her teeth and tongue than she normally did in the mornings. Once she was done, Robbie walked with her back into the bedroom and they took their previous places, Robbie looking at Cat, and Cat leaning against her headboard with her hand on her stomach.

"...Are you gonna leave me?" Cat asked.

"What? Why would you ask me that?" Robbie asked. "I'm not going to leave you."

"We're kids... having a kid. Most guys would run off."

"Those guys are cowards. The guys that run off can't even remember to count to three."

Cat's brows furrowed. "I forget three sometimes..." she muttered, messing with the strings on her hoodie.

* * *

November 2nd

"Sikowitz!" Cat shrieked as she dodged a ball.

"Yes," Sikowitz said.

"Stop throwing balls at my face! My cheek still hurts from last time," she said, sitting in her seat.

"Stop being late to my class."

"I had to use the bathroom, it was an emergency. I thought I was gonna faint, then I thought I was gonna puke, then I though maybe I was gonna fuke, but it turns out I just had a burp bubble."

"That's a really interesting story, Cat," Jade said, leaning forward with her scissors in hand. "If you don't stop telling it, I'm cutting off all of your hair."

"It'll grow back," she muttered.

Jade picked up a piece of Cat's hair.

"No!" Cat shrieked, slapping the goth's hand away.

"Smart talk me again and I'll shave it," Jade said, putting her scissors in her boot.

Cat's hands went straight to her hair, a worried expression upon her face. Tori sighed and turned around to face Jade.

"Do you have to torture her?" Tori asked.

"It's my job," Jade said. "And she's driving me nuts."

"Then ignore her."

"We all know you can't just 'ignore' Cat. She's just **there**."

"I'm sitting right here," Cat muttered, crossing her arms.

The bell rang and Sikowitz threw his hands up. "Fantastic, everyone get out of my class right now, go on, get out."

The class grabbed their things and exited, Cat and Tori walking slowly together.

Cat sighed, tucking her hair behind her ears as they exited the building and Tori couldn't help but put her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder.

"Cat, what's wrong?" Tori asked. "You're out of it."

"She's always out of it," Jade said as she walked past them.

"You don't have to talk down to her like that."

"Oh, come on, I always talk to her like this."

"And it clearly bothers her," Tori said, gesturing to Cat, who now had tears in her eyes as she stared at the ground.

"Oh for Christ's sake... Cat," Jade said, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Stop getting so emotional."

"I can't help it!" Cat whined. "It's not my fault..."

"What's going on? Is everything alright at home?" Tori asked.

"I don't know..."

"Cat... is someone hurting you?"

"No. It's not like that."

"Did your brother hit you in the head with a hammer again?" Jade asked.

"No..."

Jade sighed and she grabbed Cat's hand, leading her off of school property with Tori in tow.

"Jade!" Tori said. "We cannot leave school, we have three classes left."

"We're dealing with this right now. Cat's more important than school."

Tori knew education was important, but if she'd said that she knew it would have hurt Cat's feelings, and the poor girl already had enough emotional issues, she didn't need to be the reason for more.

They finally stopped walking once they got to the park and Jade crossed her arms, looking at Cat.

"Talk," Jade said.

"Jadey..." Cat said.

"Jade, she might not be ready to talk about whatever this is," Tori said. "You can't force her."

"Watch me," Jade said. "Caterina Hannah Valentine, if you don't start talking right this second I'll cut your tongue out and you'll never be able to talk again."

"Jade!"

"I'm pregnant," Cat blurted out.

This made the other two girls stare at her.

"What?" Tori asked.

"I... I'm pregnant," Cat repeated.

"Oh my go... Cat..."

"Did you forget to take your special vitamins today?" Jade asked.

"Jade."

"What? She's obviously not telling the truth, this is just one of her stories."

"I'm not telling stories," Cat sniffled, digging through her backpack before pulling out her ultrasound. "I'm pregnant."

Tori took the picture and stared at it for a few seconds. "Oh, Cat..." she whispered, pulling the redhead into a hug.

Jade took the picture from Tori and looked at it, studying it for a moment. "Cat... who did this to you?" she asked.

"Nobody did it to me," Cat said.

"They had to have. You don't have sex."

"I've had sex before," she said as Tori pulled away from the hug. "Sophomore party."

"That was two years ago Caterina, don't be stupid."

"I'm not! Nobody did anything to me. Robbie and I had sex, Jade, that's how it happens."

"Puppet boy did this?"

"We both did this," Cat said, taking the picture from Jade and putting it in her backpack. "This isn't just one person's fault, it's mine and his."

"Why didn't you use protection?" Tori asked.

"...He pulled out."

"Apparently not," Jade said. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you having sex in the first place? You're Cat, you don't do that stuff, and you damn sure don't call it sex, just last week you said Pirates was 'icky'."

"That was before I found out I'm gonna be a mom..."

"You're not seriously thinking about keeping it."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you're a child? A space headed child at that. Cat, you don't even know how to use a microwave half the time."

"Stop being mean to her," Tori said.

"I wasn't being mean, I'm serious. She forgets how to use the microwave. Daily."

"I do," Cat said. "I forget what buttons to push."

"If you forget how to use the microwave, how are you going to remember to feed a baby, or change a baby's diaper, or give it a bath?"

"I'll figure it out, Jade. I'm not gonna negligee my baby."

Tori looked at Cat. "Negligee?"

"Neglect," Jade said. "The word is 'neglect'. You don't even know simple words half the time, and you're having a fucking baby. That's fan-fucking-tastic."

"Jade, she's gonna be fine. Putting negative thoughts in her head isn't going to help."

"You're my best friend, Kitten. But what you're doing is **stupid**. **You're** being **stupid** ," Jade said before walking off, leaving Tori to comfort a crying Cat.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

November 24th

 _13 weeks_

"Oh my god," Cat whined as she walked out of her bedroom. "April!"

" **What**..." April said with an annoyed tone.

Cat walked to the next room and lifted her shirt up. "Am I fat?"

"Yes."

"April!"

April growled and took lifted her head up from her pillow, looking at Cat. "You're not fat. You're pregnant."

"But I'm starting to show," she said letting her shirt fall and sitting on her sister's bed.

"I didn't invite you to stay in here."

"I need someone to talk to, I'm getting nervous."

"You're **always** nervous, Catey. It's nothing new."

"But now I'm getting even more nervous. People are going to find out. By the time we go back to school, I'm gonna be all the way out to Florida."

"I wouldn't say Florida," April said, turning over from her stomach to her back before sitting up. "I'd say out to Nebraska at best."

"April!"

"What! I'm trying to be funny here, it's not my fault you take everything so personally," she said, getting out of bed. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight."

"You woke me up at eight in the morning?"

"Mom would have woken us up in a little bit anyways. She's making us help with dinner since everyone's coming over this year."

"Why are we having people over?"

"It's Thanksgiving."

"Oh, shit!" April said, running to her closet.

"What?"

"I was supposed to go out with Ryan tonight!"

"Mom's not gonna let you go."

April groaned as she grabbed a calendar from a shelf and walked back to her bed, plopping next to Cat and opening it. "Right here - date with Ryan at six."

Cat pointed to something. "Right here - November 24th, **Thanksgiving**. I dunno how you function sometimes."

"I function just fine, thank you very much Miss I See Rainbow Colored Zebras When I Eat Jade's Brownies."

"I only did that **once** ," Cat muttered.

"Out of both of us, I can guarantee everyone thinks I'm the pothead, but wouldn't they be deceived if they found out it was sweet, innocent, precious baby Catey who eats the green-filled brownies... **and** has a bun in the oven."

"Can you stop reminding me that I'm having a baby? I think about it enough on my own."

"You know you have to tell them tonight, right?"

"Tell who what?"

"Grandma and Grandpa. Nonna. Aunt Trish, Kelly, Uncle Allen, Uncle Mike. About the baby."

"No I don't. They don't need to know."

"They're kinda gonna find out eventually. You have to tell Nonna, you can't just keep something like that from her."

"No! Nonna always says how responsible I am, I can't tell her about the baby!"

"You can't keep it a secret forever. That baby's gonna grow, which means your stomach is going to grow, and it's gonna be as round as a beach ball. Then, that beach ball shaped baby is going to come out of your vagina and -"

"I know where it's gonna come out, I took health class," she muttered.

"And then bam, Baby Valentine is in the world's existence and there's no way in Hell you can say she's not yours because everybody's gonna remember you being pregnant."

"Why would I say it's not mine? And why do you assume it's a girl? What if it's a boy?"

"Well, it's a good thing you get to find out the sex in a couple months."

"I don't need to find out 'the sex', sex is how I ended up in this situation."

April rolled her eyes, closing them for a second. "I mean the gender, dumb ass," she said, throwing the calendar behind her on the bed and going back to her closet. "Help me pick something out for my date."

"Mom's not gonna let you go on a date when we have family coming over and you know it. And I'm not letting you leave me all alone with all those people and Chris. If you're not here then I'm the only one sitting next to him, and he always -"

A loud noise interrupted her and she gasped as she got up and rushed into the hallway, April following quickly behind. As they looked over the banister, they saw their older brother Chris land at the bottom of the stairs and the stand up and kick the bottom step.

"Stop **pushing** me!" Chris shouted.

"They didn't push you, you **fell** ," April said.

"No, they're always pushing me! They're mean!"

"You're a klutz."

"They hurt me!"

"It's your fault, start watching what you're doing."

"They pushed me! They always push me! It's their fault!"

"Whatever, psycho," April said before walking back into her room.

Chris let out an angry growl and slammed his head against the wall, causing Cat to gasp and make her way downstairs, pulling him away from the wall.

"Stop!" Cat said, wincing at the blood on her brother's forehead. "You're hurting yourself, just calm down!"

"The stairs pushed me!" Chris said.

"I know. They shouldn't have done that, that was a really mean thing to do, but you can't take it out on the wall or your head, you're going to hurt yourself, Chris," she said, pulling him into the kitchen.

"Christopher," Tara said. "Did you put a hole in my wall?"

"No he didn't."

"The stairs pushed me," Chris said as Cat made him sit in a chair.

"I'm sorry they did that, but I don't want you hitting anything or anybody," Tara said. "Here, clean him up while I finish breakfast," she said, throwing a hand towel to Cat.

Cat walked to the sink and got a corner of the towel wet before walking to Chris again and dabbing his head. "What are you making?" she asked.

"Eggs, pancakes, toast, sausage, bacon."

"Eggs are evil," Chris said.

"Why is that?"

"They're devils."

Cat giggled. "That's **deviled** eggs, silly. Not all eggs."

"What's wrong with your stomach?" Chris asked, poking at it.

Cat placed a hand over her stomach. "Don't poke it."

"What's wrong with your stomach?" he repeated.

"There's a baby in her stomach," Tara said.

"A baby?"

"Yes."

"Why did you eat a **baby**?"

Cat smiled. "I didn't eat it, silly. It grew in there."

"Well get it out, it's probably cramped up."

"It's not big enough to come out yet. It has to stay in there for a while," Cat said as she finished cleaning up his forehead. "All done, Chris. You want a band-aid?"

"No," Chris said before getting up and walking out of the kitchen.

Cat walked to the bathroom and tossed the hand towel in a hamper before walking back into the kitchen. The second she walked in, the smell of the food Tara was cooking hit her right in the face, which made her stomach turn immediately, resulting in her unexpectedly vomiting on the floor.

Tara turned around and rushed to her side, pulling her hair out of her face and rubbing her back. "April! I need you downstairs immediately!"

"Coming," April called out. As soon as she got to the kitchen, she scrunched her nose. "I'm not cleaning up after her, puke is not my territory."

"I need you to finish breakfast, I've got her covered," she said as Cat finally stopped gagging and took a deep breath from the lack of oxygen she was getting. "Are you okay, honey?"

"I'm not done," Cat said quickly before running out of the kitchen.

"When's the morning sickness gonna go away?" April asked as she manned the food at the stove.

"It should stop in a couple weeks," Tara said, walking towards the basement door. She returned a few seconds later with some dingy towels and a mop and bucket. "I wish it wasn't so violent on her. Poor kid's miserable."

"She did it to herself."

"Yeah. I know. She knows. You keep reminding her," she said as she spread the towels out on the floor to cover up the sick mess.

" **Well**..."

"Well, nothing. I want you to stop throwing it in her face that she got herself pregnant. You wouldn't appreciate it if she did it to you had you been the one in her situation."

"Damn good thing I'm smart enough to use condoms when I have sex then, right?"

"April Celine, one more negative comment out of your mouth about your sister's pregnancy and you will be grounded for the **rest** of her pregnancy."

"So, you're punishing me because my sister's the one that got knocked up? That's fair."

"You're being rude about it. Need I remind you about the scare you had earlier this summer?"

April rolled her eyes. "No..."

"Then leave Cat alone about the baby. She'd probably appreciate it if her sister was supportive, you know."

"I'm supportive. I hold her hair back when she throws up - she threw up **on** me the other day and I didn't punch her in the face, you have no idea how much willpower I needed to keep myself from smacking the shit out of her for that."

"I mean with your words, April. It'd probably be nice for her to hear some encouraging words from her own flesh and blood. The one that shared a womb with her for nine months."

"I'm the big sister, I'm supposed to be mean."

"You're younger than her by seven minutes."

"I am not! You said Twin B came out first."

"Cat was Twin B."

"I've been going all these years thinking I was the older one."

"Why do you think we always have Cat go first during birthdays?"

"I thought that was just because she's a cry baby and feels left out if she has to go last."

"She's older."

"My entire life has been a lie."

* * *

"Oh, hello Robbie," Tara said as she opened the door. "I wasn't expecting to see you tonight."

"Cat asked me to come over, is that okay?" Robbie asked.

"Absolutely, come on in," she said as she moved over, allowing the boy to walk through the door. "She hasn't been feeling well, so you guys find something calming to do that won't upset her stomach. She's been sick to her stomach a lot more today than normal."

"Is that okay? I mean, could something be wrong with the baby?"

"I wouldn't think so. There's been a lot of cooking today, so I'm sure the smell's just getting to her. She's in the living room watching a movie."

"Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving."

"Well thank you, happy Thanksgiving to you too," Tara said before making her way to the kitchen.

Robbie walked into the living room, expecting to see Cat in the recliner she was usually curled up in, but instead she was on the couch, asleep with her head in April's lap, who was stroking her hair. "Hey, April."

"Hi," April said. "Please come trade me spots, she's been asleep for an hour and I've had to pee for two."

Robbie laughed and carefully lifted Cat's upper body up, which immediately let April get up.

"Thanks, you're a bladder saver," she said before leaving the room.

Robbie laid Cat back down on the couch carefully before scooting her towards the edge. He slid his shoes off and carefully climbed over her legs, laying behind her and pulling her closer to him so she wouldn't fall off of the couch.

Cat stirred a little and stretched, letting out a small groan before she let out a breath and placed her hand over Robbie's, which was rested on her belly. "Robbie?"

"It's me," Robbie said, kissing her shoulder. "Go back to sleep."

"I can't."

"Do you wanna get up?"

"No. Just lay with me," she said, carefully turning over so she was face to face with him.

"Hey, beautiful."

Cat smiled. "Hi," she said, wrapping her arms around him.

"Your mom tells me you've been really sick today."

"Yeah. I threw up in the kitchen twice."

"Gross."

"The gross part was seeing full pieces of things I chewed up."

"Ew."

"I hate morning sickness. I wish it would just go away."

"Me too. I hate seeing you not feeling well."

"I hate not feeling well."

"How's the little one?" Robbie asked, running his hand over her stomach.

"Good, I guess."

"Any moving yet?"

"No. I won't feel anything for another couple months or so. Apparently the first baby is harder to feel, so it'll take longer."

"Are you getting nervous?"

"I was born nervous," she said with a small giggle.

Robbie chuckled and kissed her lips lightly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"And I love you, little one," he said, tickling her stomach lightly. "How'd your Thanksgiving go? Other than throwing up."

"Not terrible. We told everyone about the baby. The only one that's being rude about it is Kelly. Apparently I'm unworthy and stupid. And April, but she's always mean, so that's nothing new."

"I'm not mean, I just tell the truth," April said, walking into the living room and sitting in the recliner Cat was usually in. "Kelly on the other had can suck a dick and get over it, it's not like it's her body getting ruined."

"Yeah well, it's bad enough having a cousin that was stupid enough to get pregnant," Kelly said, sitting on the arm of the recliner.

"I already beat myself up over it Kelly, I don't need you to add to it," Cat said.

"Maybe you should have thought before opening your legs. Are you the baby daddy?" she asked, looking at Robbie.

Robbie raised an eyebrow. "I'm also the boyfriend."

"You're stupid too."

"Don't judge me, you don't know me."

"I know you got my cousin knocked up, so you must lack some sort of intelligence."

"Shut up," Cat said. "If you're gonna be mean you can leave."

"And make a fuss? No thanks."

"Then shut up. I'm tired of hearing it. I messed up, I know that. We're dealing with it. It's not any of your business anyways, so get over it."

"If you weren't a slut it wouldn't have happened."

"Hey," April said, smacking Kelly's arm. "I'm the only one allowed to call her names, you keep your fat mouth shut."

"Tell me I'm lying."

"She's not a slut, idiot - Robbie's the only guy she's ever slept with, and they've only had sex, what - a handful of times?"

"Twice," Cat said.

"Twice. That's it. She's not a slut."

"She shouldn't even be having sex at her age," Kelly said.

"You're the same age bitch, shut up. And I'm having sex, am I a slut too?"

"No."

"So why is Catey? Cause she's pregnant? That's a stupid reason to call someone a slut."

"She could have kept her legs closed. That baby's gonna be retarded being born to such a young mother."

April let her arm swing out, her fist connecting with Kelly's nose and Cat and Robbie gasped as Kelly fell to the floor.

"What the hell!" Kelly shouted.

"Stop talking shit on them," April said. "It's one thing for me to give her a hard time, she's my sister. But you keep your fucking mouth shut."

"What is going on in here," Tara said as she and her sister Trish walked into the living room. "Kelly? What happened?"

"April punched me!" Kelly said, standing up.

"April Celine!"

"Don't get mad at her, Mom," Cat said, getting up from the couch. "Kelly was in here calling me a slut and she wouldn't stop. Then she said the baby was gonna end up retarded," she said before looking at Kelly. "We don't use the R word in this house."

"You should, since you are one," Kelly muttered.

"Kelly," Trish said. "April, I don't appreciate you using physical violence on my daughter, what's the matter with you?"

"She should have shut the fuck up when I told her to," April said.

"Not that I condone the hitting," Tara started, "but Kelly shouldn't have said anything about or to Cat."

"It's not my fault she was stupid," Kelly said.

Cat's face turned red. "Kelly had an abortion last month," she blurted out.

"What?" Tara and April mused.

"You little bitch, I told you that in confidence," Kelly said.

"Yeah well, you mess with the cat, you get the claws," Cat said. "If you're gonna talk bad about me, I'm gonna make sure everyone in this family knows you're not any better because you got pregnant too, and you're still a teenager too, so why are you acting like what I'm going through is so terrible? At least my baby's going to be happy and healthy and loved, unlike yours, which was unfairly killed because you didn't want to deal with your responsibilities. Don't talk shit about me when you're the one harboring secrets that even I'm ashamed of to be related to you," she said before pushing past everyone and leaving the room.

Robbie and April both stood up from the recliner and the couch.

"Talk shit about my sister again and you'll get more than just a bloody nose," April said. "If I hear from anybody that you're talking about her I will **end you**."

"That's enough, April," Trish said.

"You can shut the fuck up too, I saw your smirk when Cat said she was pregnant. Almost every woman in this fucking house was a teenager when they got knocked up the first time. Mom was Cat's age. You were only eighteen, Nonna was fifteen when she had Uncle Allen. Calling Cat a slut is the same thing as calling everybody else here a slut, because every woman here with the exception of myself and Grandma were teenagers when they had their first kids. I know I give Catey a hard time, but I'm her sister and I'm allowed to poke fun at her. But I'll be fucking damned if you stuck up bitches think that just because we share blood that you're family enough to be mean to her. I'm also the only one allowed to call Puppet Boy stupid. If you'll excuse me and the nerd, we're gonna go make sure Cat's okay," she said before grabbing Robbie's hand and leaving the room with him.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

November 28th

 _14 weeks_

"So, how was everyone's Thanksgiving?" Tori asked as the six friends took a seat at their usual table.

"Great," Beck said.

"Shitty," Jade said, crossing her arms. "His grandmother called me a delinquent."

"You **are** a delinquent," Tori said.

"No one asked you."

"How was your Thanksgiving Andre?"

"It was cool," Andre said. "Until Grandma started freaking out about my cousin Kendra turning into a ghost."

"A ghost?"

"Her son threw flour in her face when they were baking pies and Grandma thought she turned into a ghost."

"That's... well, that's your grandmother for you."

"When are you gonna put that lady in the bin?" Jade asked.

"Hopefully soon, man," Andre said.

"Andre!" Tori said.

"What? You don't understand what it's like to deal with her. I love her, but it's getting harder to deal with."

"I guess I can't say much... I don't know what it's like. But she's still a sweet old lady. How was yours?" she asked, looking at Cat and Robbie.

"Mine was good," Robbie said. "Lots of kids though. And games. I went to Cat's after dinner was done."

"Awww, you guys are spending holidays together!"

"We didn't plan on it, but Cat had a little bit of a hard time so I went over to calm her down."

"Oh no, what happened?"

"I just wasn't having a good time," Cat said. "I was throwing up all day. Wasn't pretty. I told everyone that came to dinner about the baby. I was judged hardcore."

"I'm sorry... Well, we're not judging you."

"I'm still kind of judging you," Jade said. "But I'm here."

"April punched my cousin in the face," Cat said with a small giggle.

"And I missed it? Why do I always miss the good shit?"

"She called me a slut. And she said my baby was gonna come out retarded because I'm so young. So April punched her right off her chair."

"Way to go, April!" Jade called out to April a few tables away.

"About what!" April called back.

"Giving Kelly what she deserves!"

"You should've been there, it was great!"

"It was great," Cat said. "She's not allowed at the house anymore. Thank goodness. I couldn't stand her."

"No one could, she's more obnoxious than Trina," Jade said.

"Hey," Tori said. " **No one** is more obnoxious than Trina."

"Kelly is. Just her existence is annoying."

"What is that?" Cat asked, scrunching her nose as Beck opened his food plate.

"Egg salad," Beck said.

"It **smells**."

"It always smells."

"Her stomach still gets upset with some stuff, babe," Jade said.

"Right - I forgot," Beck said, closing the plate. "Tell you what, I'm not starving and I have free period when lunch is over, so I'll eat it then so Cat doesn't end up blowing chunks all over the table."

"You don't have to do that," Cat said. "You can eat."

"I'll be fine. I can wait. A happy, non-puking Cat is my favorite kind of Cat."

Cat giggled, resting her head on Robbie's shoulder. She picked a crouton out of his garden salad and popped it in her mouth before looking at April as she walked up to their table.

"What's up, losers?" April asked, kneeling next to Cat.

"You eat lunch with Sinjin and **we're** the losers?" Andre asked.

"Shut up." She put a gift bag on the table next to Cat. "This is from Trina, she was too lazy to get off her ass and give it to you herself. Also, that burrito Mom made this morning is in there, I'm not gonna eat it so you can have it. I have to go make up a test. I'll also be home late, I have detention."

"You **always** have detention, I'm not surprised," Cat said.

"Well, let Mom know when you get home. And see if you can keep Chris out of my room, will ya? He went through my panties drawer the other day and found my condoms. Then he stacked them together and shoved a fucking needle through them."

The table laughed.

"Okay," Cat said.

"You're not gonna use them are you?" Jade asked.

"Do I look stupid to you?" April asked. "I'll see you when I get home," she said, kissing Cat's cheek. "And I'll wake **you** up when I get home, maybe we'll get some movement," she said, shaking Cat's belly lightly, only to get her hand smacked away.

"Don't, I don't want it to start moving at school. I don't know if it'll make me sick or not," Cat said.

April kissed her stomach. "Love you, Spawn," she said before walking off.

Cat opened the gift bag and pulled out a styrofoam container, setting it in front of her before digging into the bag again and pulling out an outfit. It was a light green onesie that said 'first homecoming. I'll be hotter at my second' on the front and a pair of white pants with a white beanie and white mittens attached. "Oh my gosh, this is so cute," she said. "Thank you, Trina!" she called out.

"Joke's on her, our baby isn't going to homecoming," Robbie said.

"You hush, there's still sixteen years between now and then."

"Is it a girl?" Tori asked.

"I don't know. I haven't gone to the doctor to see yet. I go next week to find out since I'll be at the fifteen week mark. There's no promising that we'll be able to tell, though. The baby has to be in the right position."

"What are you hoping for?"

"I dunno yet. A girl would be fun."

"We'll love it either way," Robbie said. "As long as it's healthy."

"What if it's twins?" Jade asked. "You'd be screwed. One of them would for sure end up a little April."

"It's not twins," Cat said. "When I had my first ultrasound there was only one."

"Just saying. With you being a twin, it's a high possibility."

"I'm barely dealing with the fact that I'm having one. Don't jinx me."

* * *

December 7th

 _15 weeks_

"Alright, Cat," Dr. Wilson said, rolling the remote over her stomach. "Baby's in a really good position. Would you like to know the gender?"

Cat smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

Dr. Wilson maneuvered the remote over her belly and turned the monitor towards Cat and Robbie. "Congratulations, it's a little girl."

Cat's grin widened and she looked at Robbie taking his hand. "We're having a girl."

"She's already as beautiful as her mom," Robbie said, kissing her lips.

"Everything looks good," Dr. Wilson said as she wiped Cat's stomach off. "She's growing like she should, she's got a strong heartbeat, and everything looks visually correct. I'll just get these scans printed and have them taken to the front desk. Don't forget to pick them up."

"Can we get copies too?" Cat asked.

"Absolutely. I'll do that for you."

"Thank you."

As Dr. Wilson left the room, Robbie helped Cat down from the exam table and grabbed her jacket before helping her put it on.

"So, lunch period starts in about fifteen minutes. You wanna go through somewhere and then eat at school?" Robbie asked.

Cat nodded. "Yeah. Inside Out Burger?"

"Sure. I've been craving their onion rings."

"Are you sure you're not the pregnant one? You get a lot of cravings."

Robbie shrugged. "Sympathy cravings," he said, opening the door.

Cat giggled as they walked down the hall together and exited a door. She walked up to the front desk and gave the nurse a smile. "Hi. I need to pick up my ultrasound scans."

"Name?" the nurse asked.

"Caterina Valentine."

The nurse typed her name into the computer and rolled over to a filing cabinet, pulling a folder out. She took out a manila envelope and rolled back over to the desk, opening the envelope and checking the name. "This is it. You have extra scans in here too," she said as she closed the envelope and handed it to Cat. "Congratulations, see you next month."

"Thanks," she said.

Fifteen minutes later, Cat and Robbie were taking their seats at the group's lunch table.

While Robbie got their food out, Cat handed copies of her ultrasounds to Jade and Tori.

"It's a girl!" Cat said.

"Yay!" Tori said. "I knew it, I had a feeling."

"Great," Jade said. "Now I have to buy something pink."

"It doesn't have to be pink, just not too boyish," Cat said as she ate a french fry.

"Have you thought about any names?" Tori asked.

"No, not yet. Well, none that we've discussed, anyways. We still have a while before we have to name her though."

"I suggest Victoria."

Cat giggled. "That sounds like your name. Vic- **tori** -a."

"That's because it is her name," Jade said. "If they're named that kid after anybody at this table, it's me. We've been best friends since preschool."

"We don't know if we're gonna name her after anybody," Robbie said. "We haven't talked names yet, so when we decide then we'll let you guys know."

"Yeah, I don't want you guys fighting over it," Cat said as she bit into her hamburger.

"I think you should name her after me," Beck said.

"How would we do that? You're a boy, she's a girl."

"My name is gender reversible. Beckett could be Rebecca, Oliver could be Olivia. Rebecca Olivia or Olivia Rebecca. Yanno. Has a nice ring to it."

"Yeah, it does..." she looked at Robbie. "What do you think? Olivia Rebecca."

"Hey! No fair," Tori said.

"If you're not naming it after me, you can't name it after my boyfriend," Jade said.

"I think we should go through names later," Robbie said with a laugh. "Obviously we have a couple toddlers over here that are getting jealous."

"Might be for the best. Wouldn't want any bloodshed," Cat said.

"With Jade involved, there'd be bloodshed."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

December 12th

 _16 weeks_

"I don't know what you expected when you told me to put this stupid thing on, but I told you that it wasn't gonna fit over my belly," Cat said, struggling to get out of a sweater.

"I thought it would fit," Tori said. "It looked big enough!"

"Are you calling me fat?"

"No!"

"Are you gonna help me get out of this thing or just watch me fail at life altogether?"

Tori walked over to her and helped her pull it up and over her head before throwing it in a chair as Sikowitz walked into the classroom.

"What are you doing in here?" Sikowitz asked.

"I was having wardrobe issues," Cat muttered, pulling her shirt down and making her bump more prominent.

"Well get out, I have things to do."

"Wait. I needed to ask you something."

"What?"

"Is there something else I can do instead of being in the play this semester? I don't think it's a good idea to have a pregnant teenager in a play that's covering abstinence."

"We don't have anybody pregnant in the play."

Cat looked at him for a few seconds before placing her hand on her stomach. " **Me**. I'm pregnant."

"I thought you were just getting fat," he said, making Tori snort and cover her mouth.

"Well I'm **not**. But I don't think it's a good idea to be in the play, so could I do something behind the scenes?"

"You can do lighting."

"I electrocuted Jade the last time I did lighting."

"You can do props."

"I can't lift anything heavy."

"You can do wardrobe and makeup."

"I'm cool with that, I'm good at that stuff."

"Great, now **get out**."

Cat giggled as she picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. As she and Tori walked out of the room, she let out a small groan, resting her hand on her back.

"What? Are you okay?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, my back just hurts," Cat said. "I didn't think this would start happening until I was bigger."

"Well, you're big for you. You've never weighed this much or had to carry so much weight before, so it's taking a toll on your teeny tiny body."

"Yeah, but still. I just wish I wasn't in pain all the time."

"Well, you wouldn't be if -"

"If I wasn't pregnant, I know. Stop reminding me. Can't you just be my friend?"

"I am your friend."

"You don't act like it. You're **always** telling me I could do more things if I wasn't pregnant. I already know that, you can stop telling me."

"I'm sorry - but, you can't say it's not true."

"I'm **not** saying it isn't true!" Cat whined. "Being pregnant **sucks** , it's not fun. I know I messed up, okay? I know that. I didn't **mean** to get pregnant. You know what I wanted for my senior year? I just wanted to be a normal teenager. I don't get to be a normal teenager anymore. I don't get to participate in the last plays I'll ever get to participate in, I don't get to go to prom, I don't get to go to the end-of-the-year homecoming, I don't get to march with the band and play my flute at the homecoming. You know what I get to do instead of shouting 'go big blue'?"

"What?"

"I get to spend the time I should be having the time of my life and laughing and having fun with my friends, in a hospital, in a delivery room, crying and sweating and pushing a human being out of my vagina - **that's** what I get to fucking **do** ," she said as her voice cracked.

"Cat... don't cry," Tori said, pulling her into a hug. "Don't cry, it's gonna be okay."

"No it's not! Everyone just tells me how bad I messed up, no one really cares about me or the baby."

"We care about both of you."

"You do not. You don't care about her, all you guys do is tell me I could be doing what I want if I wasn't pregnant. That's not caring about her, that's wishing she never happened."

Tori pulled away from the hug. "Caterina Valentine, just because we're telling you that you should have waited to have a baby does not mean that we don't care about her or love her. That little girl is going to be part of all of our lives, and we all love her already. We would never wish her not existing, we just wish you weren't going through this right now. We all know that it's not easy for you. We just want you to be a happy, comfortable teenager. We miss **our** Cat."

"Well, 'your Cat' is **this** Cat, and this Cat is having a baby whether you like it or not."

"None of us 'like' it, but we're going to help you get through it. We're here for you no matter what, Cat. When you have that baby, we'll be at the hospital waiting for her arrival and we'll be there to visit and give her lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles and love and presents. We're going to be here for you **and** for her."

"You will?"

"Absolutely."

"You have no idea how much that means to me, Tori..."

"I have a little bit of an idea," she said with a smile. "Now, let's go get that baby some food, she's probably starving."

"She is, and so is her momma."

* * *

"Stop laughing at me and help me up!" Cat whined.

Jade grabbed Cat's hand, helping her stand up from the ground. "It was funny."

"No it wasn't, what if the baby got hurt?" Tori asked.

"The baby's fine."

"How do you know that, are you inside of her vagina?"

"No, and neither is the baby."

"She's in my uterus," Cat said. "But you don't know if she's okay or not, what if I just gave her shaken baby syndrome or something?" she asked, running her hand over her stomach.

"She's fine, stop stressing," Jade said as they started walking down the hall to the exit.

"Probably, but we don't know for absolute sure."

"So, how's the job search going?" Tori asked.

"Ugh," Cat sighed. "Everywhere I go, they see my stomach and cut the interview short. I'm never gonna get a job at this point."

"I can always ask my dad if you'd be qualified to do the dispatching position at the police station."

"You have to be eighteen to work in law enforcement," Jade said. "And typically have a high school diploma, which she doesn't have yet."

"Well... maybe my mom can arrange something - are you allergic to any flowers?"

"Just dandelions," Cat said.

"Those are weeds," Jade rolled her eyes.

"Well then she'll be safe," Tori said. "I'll ask my mom about job opportunities, I'm sure she'd give you the job over someone else."

"Unless someone else is more qualified than an undergrad pregnant teenager."

"She loves Cat. She knows her situation, she'll do whatever she can to help. I'll talk to her when I get home today."

"Thank you," Cat said. "Seriously. I mean, even if there's nothing she can help me with, I appreciate the effort."

"If that doesn't work, I can ask my mom if there's anything at the hospital," Jade said.

"And what the heck am I supposed to do at a hospital? I'm too young to handle anything there."

"Candy striper."

"No hospital uses - hey, that's not a bad idea... Well, what if I'm able to do both? I can work after school at one, and work weekends at the other. Two jobs, double the money, better preparation for the baby."

"I've honestly never heard you say anything smarter."

Cat's brows furrowed. "I'm smart..."

"Yeah. Getting pregnant at sixteen is smart."

"Stop saying that!" she whined. "I hate it when you do that, stop making me feel bad!"

"You wouldn't -"

"Be in this situation if I wasn't pregnant, I know!"

"Jade, give her a break," Tori said. "Let's just go to my house, okay? We'll talk to my mom."

"Okay..."

"She's supposed to be making enchiladas tonight. Maybe you can stay for dinner."

"I'm all in for free food!"

* * *

"Thank you for letting me stay for dinner, Mrs. Vega," Cat said as she sat on the couch next to Tori.

"Anytime, Cat. We prefer you over Trina any day," Holly said.

"I'm right here!" Trina exclaimed, turning off the kitchen faucet.

"Mom, are you guys still looking for someone to fill in Shirley's place at the flower shop?" Tori asked.

"Yep," Holly said. "We'll be looking for a while, hardly anybody wants to work as a florist."

"Well, it's funny you mention that," she said. "Cat's having a baby."

"Yes... it's very noticeable."

"And she needs a job to start saving up for it."

"Uh huh... What's your question?"

"Would you be able to pull some strings and let her have the job?"

Holly smiled. "It's my shop, I can hire anybody I want."

"Then, if she wanted to work there, she'd have the job?"

"Absolutely, I just need a list of floral allergies to make sure she doesn't handle them."

"I'm only allergic to dandelions," Cat said.

"Those are weeds."

"We already went over that," Tori said. "So... she basically has the job?"

"Sure. I can always give you a trial run," Holly said. Come by tomorrow after school, I can give you the run down. You can start Monday."

Cat smiled. "Really?"

"Really."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Vega, I swear I'll do my best," she said, hugging the woman.

"I know you will, kiddo. We'll talk maternity leave and all that later, let's see how you do with your first week, okay? Make sure it's alright with your mom first. If she thinks you should start a different day then we'll talk."

"Okay. She won't mind. But I'll talk to her," Cat said.

"Let me know. If you ladies will excuse me, I'm gonna go rewash the dishes Trina just messed up," Holly said as she got up from the couch.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

December 13th

 _16 weeks_

"Make sure you wear something appropriate," Tara said.

"When have I ever not worn something appropriate?" Cat asked.

"Um, you wear short as fuck dresses all the time," April said. "Even with the baby. You tryna prostitute the both of you?"

"You nasty," she said, throwing a pillow at April.

"Alright, you girls stop," Tara said. "Get up, get ready for school. April, I want you **out** of detention today. Cat, I want you to let me know if you start feeling dizzy again, I do not want another repeat of last night."

Cat had been feeling fine yesterday, but after she took a shower, she started getting dizzy and could hardly function. Tara wanted her to stay home from school today, but Cat insisted on going so she could go to the flower shop after school in hopes of Mrs. Vega hiring her.

"I'll be fine, I feel alright," Cat said.

"You felt alright yesterday too and it still happened. I mean it. If you get dizzy, you stay put and you have someone call the office and call me."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. It's April you should worry about, she's the one that's gonna end up in detention anyways."

"Your low faith in me hurts," April said.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

"No, you're right. It'd just be nice for my own sister to be supportive."

"Now you know how she feels," Tara said. "Now go get dressed for school, both of you. I don't want you to be late."

Just an hour later, the Valentine twins arrived at school. As they walked into the building, April rolled her eyes while Cat stalked away from her with a scowl upon her face.

"What did you do to her?" Jade asked, appearing next to April.

"Apparently I was driving too fast," April said. "I was going four miles over the limit."

"You know how she gets about cars. She doesn't even like being in them, don't give her anything to stress out about. She's already a mess, with the baby and everything."

"It's been four years. She needs to get over it."

"You don't just 'get over' the death of your father, April. Even you still have your days."

"No I don't. I'm over it."

"Is that why you were at my place last month crying because your dad would have been disappointed in you for not a first, but a **second** pregnancy scare?"

April looked at her for a few seconds. "Shut up, don't talk about it. My mom doesn't know. If she found out, she'd flip. And I was only crying about it because Dad would have killed me if I ended up pregnant, especially with Cat being pregnant, cause come on - two teenaged daughters having babies? That's not exactly something a parent would be proud of. And Mom only knows about the first scare from this summer, I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention the other one around anybody. Especially Cat."

"You didn't tell Cat?"

"She **cries** at everything, I don't tell her shit anymore."

"She's hormonal."

"She's annoying."

"She's still your sister. Give her a break. And stop making her cry, she called me when she got home yesterday and said you called her stupid."

"I didn't call her stupid, I said her **idea** was stupid. She wants to turn her closet into the baby's room. That's stupid."

"No it's not. That closet is huge, it'd be the perfect size for a nursery."

"Yeah, what about when the baby gets bigger? She'll have to move everything into another room once it's older."

"There's like, a good three years before she'll have to upgrade."

"I wouldn't wanna have to move all of that furniture into a new room."

"That's because you're fucking lazy," Jade said as they started walking towards Cat and the rest of the group. "So, what's up with you and Ryan? I haven't seen you two all kissy on each other in a while."

April sighed. "He broke up with me. He didn't want to, but his mom found out about Cat, and... well, you know his mom, you've met her."

"Bible thumping bitch," she said as they joined the group. "What's up? Why is Cat crying? Did you try to play Pirates with her?" she asked, hitting Robbie's arm.

"No," Robbie rolled his eyes. "She forgot her pencil pouch at home."

"Oh my god," April said, digging into her backpack. "Here, stop crying. They're just pencils," she said, handing a mechanical pencil to Cat.

"I can't help it," Cat sniffled. "You know how I am."

"Yeah. I know. Cheer up. It's not the end of the world, I promise. Your teachers don't care what you use to write with as long as it isn't crayons or magic markers again."

"I was eleven, I needed something to write with, how was I supposed to know you couldn't use a magic marker on a scantron?"

"It was eleventh **grade** , and you should have known because they told us to use a number two pencil."

"Whatever," Cat said. "I'm going to class. I'll see you guys at lunch," she said, starting toward the stairs.

As she got to the landing, Kelly stopped in front of her, making her sigh.

"What do you want, Kelly..."

"For you to keep your mouth shut about my personal life," Kelly said.

"I haven't said anything about you."

"You told my mom and Aunt Tara about the abortion. You swore you'd never say anything about that."

"Yeah well, you were calling me names and bullying me, so I wasn't gonna look like the only fool. They would have found out eventually anyways."

"They wouldn't have if you'd kept your mouth shut. Considering you don't know how to keep your legs shut, I'm not surprised that you can't keep a secret."

"That doesn't even make sense, Kelly. Can you move please? I need to get to class."

"Can you stop telling people my business?"

Cat sighed. "Come on, Kelly, I need to be early for this class so I can finish the homework for it."

"Maybe you should have done it last night."

"Maybe you should let me worry about my own academic habits," she said, pushing past her cousin and walking up the left staircase.

Kelly followed her, stopping her as she froze in front of her. "I think you're about due to learn a little lesson."

"I could be learning a lesson if you'd let me go to class."

"This is more... **karma**."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Before Cat could move and protect herself, she felt her cousin's hands shove her, and before she could grab the railing of the staircase, she felt herself topple backwards. She screamed as her back hit the edge of a step and that caught the attention of other students.

The group's attention directed toward her and the second they saw it was Cat, they all rushed to her, Robbie kneeling on the ground and reaching out to touch her but being stopped by Jade.

"Don't," Jade said. "Don't touch her, she could have spinal injuries," she said, kneeling next to the crying redhead.

"It hurts!" Cat sobbed.

"What hurts, Cat? Tell me what hurts."

" **Everything**!"

"Did you hit your head, your stomach?"

"I don't know!"

April's eyes filled with tears, but she quickly blinked them away as she looked towards Kelly, who was still standing at the top of the stairs. She growled and rushed up the staircase, punching her cousin and making her fall to the floor before she sat on top of her and wrapped her small hands around the other girl's throat.

"You wanna keep fucking with my family?" April shouted. "You think it's funny to push a pregnant girl down the fucking stairs!"

"Get off!" Kelly said with a strained voice.

April's grip got tighter around her neck. "You **hurt** her!"

"Get off of me!"

Jade looked from Cat towards April and she stood up, walking up the stairs. She pulled April off of Kelly and pulled the girl up by her hair, dragging her halfway down the staircase and making her lean backwards over the railing. "You're gonna listen to me, bitch," Jade snarled. "You're gonna keep your fucking hands off of that little girl. You're gonna stop fucking with her. You're going to leave her the fuck alone."

"I swear to god I'll press charges if you hurt me!" Kelly said.

"Yeah? How you gonna do that if you're **dead**?" she asked, making Kelly lean further back, causing her to grip the banister. "You could have fucking killed her! You could have hurt that baby!"

"I don't care! She doesn't deserve that baby!"

"Just because you **killed** yours doesn't mean hers deserves the same fate!" Jade yelled.

"Jade, that's enough," Beck said. "She gets it."

Jade stared at Kelly for a few seconds before pulling her towards her and letting her go. "Stay the fuck away from Cat. This is your only warning. The next time you even look at her, I'll snap your fucking neck."

"You're all talk and no action. If you were going to do anything to hurt me, you would have already," Kelly said.

"She doesn't have the time to, because I'm beating her to it," April said, grabbing Kelly's hair and slamming her head into the railing of the banister before letting her cousin fall to the stairs.

"Girls!" Beck shouted. "Leave her be, we have more important things to worry about."

April and Jade made their way back to Cat, kneeling next to her.

Jade pressed around on Cat's stomach. "Have you been feeling the baby start moving or kicking at all yet?"

Cat sobbed and shook her head. "I haven't felt any - anything, I'm not far enough along."

"Fuck," she whispered.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing that I know of, it'd just be a lot easier to tell if the baby's okay if you were feeling movement. Somebody needs to call 9-1-1 and someone needs to go get Helen and fast, we have to get her to the hospital. April, I want you to call my mom and tell her to meet us at the hospital if she isn't already there at work and make sure you call your mom and let her know what happened. We don't have all day people, get moving!"

* * *

"There we go," Grace West said as a whooshing sound emitted from the sonogram machine. "There's a heartbeat, you can relax, Momma."

Cat sniffled and let out a small breath. "I was so scared something bad happened... she's okay? Everything is good?"

"Everything looks great. Strong heartbeat, she's sucking her thumb. She's just chillin' in there, she probably thinks there was an earthquake when you fell."

"She was **pushed** ," Jade said.

"That bitch is gonna fuckin' pay," April said.

"Watch your mouth," Grace said. "I know you're upset, I would be too if my sister got tossed down the stairs, but she's okay and so is the baby. There's nothing to worry about anymore."

"I'm just... god, I wish I could kill her and get away with it."

"I **tried** ," Jade said.

"Jadelyn August West, I want you to stay away from that girl, she's nothing but trouble that you don't need to get involved in," Grace said.

April snorted. "August... God, you must have hated her when you named her."

"Your name is April, you were named after a month too," Jade said.

"Yeah, but August?"

"At least you guys have creative middle names," Cat said. "I got stuck with Hannah. I hate the name Hannah."

"Hey," Grace said. "My name is Hannah."

"Your name is Grace, you feelin' okay there?" April asked.

" **Hannah** Grace."

"Why do you go by Grace then?"

"Cause I hate the name Hannah."


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

December 19th

 _17 weeks_

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Vega," Cat said as she walked into the flower shop with Tori.

"Hi, Cat - Tori told me about last week, how are you feeling?" Holly asked.

"Better. Still a little sore, but I think that's more because I haven't been moving around much."

"Well, you won't be here long today, I just wanna give you a run down and you girls can go back to the house. It's pretty self explanatory. This is the cash register, the refrigerated flowers are right there, there's another fridge in the back where we keep all the custom orders, and you really just need to make sure you're displaying a good mood to the customers. Come back here, I'll show you how to work the register."

Cat walked behind the counter and she stood next to Holly, watching her type something into the keyboard on her computer.

"So, you'll log into your own profile, but we'll get that all set up for you tomorrow. When you log in, it automatically clocks you in, and when you log out, it clocks you out. Tori, bring me a bush daisy."

Tori stared at Holly for a few seconds, extending her arms to the side. "I'm **allergic** to bush daisies!" she exclaimed.

"Right - bring me a daffodil."

Tori plucked a daffodil out of a bouquet and brought it to the counter. "Bush daisies..."

"I forgot, sue me. Alright, we have every flower labeled with a picture and they're in alphabetical order, so you should have no problem finding them," Holly said, scrolling down to the picture of a daffodil and clicking it. "So, you'll select 'daffodil' and under quantity, you'll type in however many they're purchasing, in this case would be 'one'. And then you'll click 'okay' and it'll take you back to the list of flowers and you'll do the same thing with each type. Are you following so far?"

Cat nodded. "Yep, keep going."

"Alright, counting the flowers is important because the prices jump. A singular flower is 85 cents. If you have a customer that's getting nine flowers, that'll be 85 cents times nine, plus tax which is... let me think -"

"8.22."

"Right. However, if they have ten, that's considered a bundle, and a bundle is ten dollars, and a bouquet would be thirteen or more flowers, which would be twenty-five dollars. So, if a customer has twelve flowers, that's a bundle plus two single flowers, which would come out to... hm..."

"11.70 plus tax, which is 7.5 percent, making tax 88 cents bringing the total to 12.58."

Holly looked at her for a few seconds. "...How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Math."

"I do it in my head."

"How?"

"With my **brain**..."

Holly and Cat stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Anyways," Holly said. "The prices are listed right here on the desk next to the register just so you know the bouquets and bundles. A twenty count bouquet jumps from twenty-five to thirty-five, and every ten flowers from there it goes up."

"Thirty count is forty-five, forty count is fifty-five."

"Exactly. You seem like you're already a pro. It's very simple work, but if you ever have any questions don't be afraid to ask. Do you have a driver's license?"

"Oh, um..." Cat stayed quiet for a few seconds. "No, I don't, I... I'm scared of vehicles. I don't even like riding in them, let alone driving."

"Why's that?"

"My dad... died. In a car accident."

"She wasn't in the car," Tori said. "But, it still freaks her out."

"I'm very sorry to hear that, Cat. I'm sorry if asking about it upset you," Holly said.

"No, it's fine," Cat said. "You didn't know, it's okay. Why do you ask?"

"Well, we have deliveries, but I can keep the same people doing them now."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Deliveries are a couple times a day, my drivers can handle it. Tomorrow I'll show you around the back and introduce you to everybody, but that's pretty much it for today. You might do some light housekeeping here out front, but other than that you'll have a pretty light load."

"Sounds great, Mrs. Vega."

"Alright. You girls can go do whatever, I just wanted to show you as much as I could before I had to buckle down."

"See you at home tonight, Mom," Tori said as Cat followed her towards the door.

As they walked out of the shop, Cat rested her hand on her growing belly. "Man, I wish she'd come out."

"Already? You're not that far along, are you?"

"No. I'm not even half way there yet. I'm seventeen weeks."

"And that's..."

"Four months."

"You're so big for four months -"

"I know. April reminds me every day that I'm fat. Thank you."

"You're not fat - don't listen to her."

"She's only playing when she says it, but it still bothers me, yanno? I can't tell if it's because of the hormones or if it's because I just don't like to be made fun of."

"I thought she was cooling it with talking down to you about the baby."

"She has. A lot. She doesn't say 'well if you weren't pregnant' or 'maybe you should have thought about that' or anything like that anymore. And she's been a lot more helpful. She holds my hair back if I get sick, she caters me, helps me off the floor."

"Why are you on the floor?"

"Because I **fall**. Duh."

* * *

December 25th

 _17 weeks_

Cat stared at the gravemarker in front of her, picking at the grass as she sniffled. She'd been at the cemetery for a while. She lost track of time. She told her mom she was going on a walk after they had breakfast and when she got there, she sat down right in front of her father's grave and she just sat and cried her heart out.

"I miss you, Daddy..." Cat whispered. "Christmas isn't the same without you. We don't listen to the songs you liked. We don't watch It's A Wonderful Life. We don't open presents at midnight... It's just different. I hate Christmas..."

Cat's eyes filled with tears - she was surprised she was even able to still produce tears at this point. "I have something to tell you. You're gonna be disappointed. Maybe even a little upset... I'm pregnant. I'm... I'm having a baby. It's a little girl. She's Robbie's... we were really, really scared at first, but we've gotten used to it and he's really excited. He's gonna be a really good dad... I wish you were around to give him pointers. I wish you were around to give me advice... I just wish you were **around**..."

Her hand ran over her stomach until she covered her face with her hands, letting out a sob. "Why did you have to die on Christmas? Christmas! It's our favorite holiday, and you - you went and **died**!" she shouted. "We told you we didn't need orange juice for the turkey because we had apple juice, but **no**! You had to be fucking stubborn and go to the store anyways, and you got hit by a truck and you fucking died! On **Christmas**! On my **fucking birthday**! Why did it have to be on my **birthday**!"

When Cat left after breakfast, April knew exactly where she was going. So, she gave it about an hour and when Cat hadn't come back home, she decided to take a walk to the cemetery. When she saw her sister - her big sister - sitting at their father's grave, she didn't want to disturb her. She heard every word and her own tears were flowing freely down her cheeks, but she stayed still, behind Cat and letting her vent.

"You - you - you just **left** me!" Cat said. "You left! You don't understand how that hurts! Every day that you're gone, my heart breaks more and more, and especially now that I'm having my own baby, I'm devastated that she doesn't get to meet the single most important man in my life! You know what I get to tell my daughter when she's old enough to ask about her grandpa? I get to tell her that he died over orange juice. Fucking **juice**! That's **stupid**! It's fucking stupid!" she shouted before letting a rack of sobs take over.

April sniffled and walked over to her, finally having enough of it. She sat on her knees and pulled Cat into a hug, kissing her head. "Calm down," she said. "Yelling at him isn't going to change anything, you know that."

"He - I - it was -" Cat said through gasps.

"You're having a panic attack, you need to calm down," April's voice cracked. "You have to breathe, every time your breathing is altered, it happens to the baby, too."

Cat let out a sob. "He's so stupid... Who dies over orange juice?"

"I know, it's a stupid reason, but it happened and we can't change that, Catey. He's still with us. We have his memories. We have his love. He's always in our hearts and he's always watching over us, I promise."

"On our birthday... that's the worst birthday present..."

"I know, Catey... I know. It hurts me too. Sometimes I just - I get so pissed off at him, but it wasn't his fault that he died. You can't blame him for that. It was the truck's fault. The other driver ran a red light, that wasn't Dad's fault."

"We had apple juice..."

"I know," April said as tears slid down her cheeks. "I know we did..."

* * *

"Mom?" Cat asked, sitting on a stool at the island.

"Yeah," Tara said.

"...Would Daddy be upset with me?"

"For what, honey?"

"Being pregnant."

Tara shook her head. "I think he'd be disappointed at first... but he'd be understanding because it happened to us too. We were your age when we had Chris. He'd love that little girl more than anything, though."

"I told him about her today... He didn't rise from his grave, so I assume he was sorta okay with it."

Tara chuckled. "If your dad would still be alive by the time that baby's born, he'd be head over heels in love with her. I promise."

Cat sighed and got off of the stool before walking to the fridge and grabbing a water bottle. "I'm gonna take a nap before dinner."

"Okay," Tara said as Cat started out of the kitchen. "Caterina."

Cat stopped and looked at her. "Hm?"

"Happy birthday, baby."

She smiled. "Thanks."

Cat walked upstairs and instead of going to her room, she walked straight to April's, closing the door behind her. She set the water bottle on the nightstand and laid down on her sister's bed next to her and cuddling up to her while she scrolled through TheSlap on her phone.

"What's the matter?" April asked.

"Tired," Cat said.

"You're always tired. That baby sure does a lot to make you tired for just chillin' inside there."

"It's an energy sucker, I get tired just peeing."

"That's called **laziness**."

"Shut up."

April giggled and turned her camera on, turning it to the front camera option. "Smile, pretend you love me."

"No, I look like crap, I'm fat, I don't wanna take a picture."

"Well too bad, this is gonna be payback for all those pictures you took of me drunk off my ass at the party back in August."

Cat groaned and looked at the camera. When she saw the face April was making she let out a laugh and April snapped the picture before kissing her cheek.

"That's better," April said before placing her phone on the nightstand. "So... this is what seventeen feels like."

"...Like sixteen?"

"It's felt the same since we were ten, this growing up thing is total bullshit."

"I just don't feel the magic anymore, yanno? Birthdays used to be so much fun, but... it stopped feeling like that after Daddy died..."

"Yeah..." April whispered.

They were both silent, arms wrapped lightly around each other. That was until Cat let out a sob.

"I miss him so much, April..." Cat whispered.

"I know... me too."

"It's just not... right. It doesn't feel right celebrating anything without him. Especially our birthday, since he was half the reason we were born to begin with."

"Well come on now, don't give him too much credit. He did make Chris."

"Quit being mean to him, it hurts his feelers."

"His feelers."

"That's what he calls them, he thought he was turning into a bug because he accidentally ate a ladybug a couple weeks ago."

"How do you accidentally eat a ladybug?"

"I don't know. It's Chris."


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

December 31st

 _17 weeks_

"What's **that** supposed to mean!" Cat snapped.

"Nothing!" Robbie said. "Just, you're growing really fast, I didn't think you'd be so big so fast."

"So I'm **fat**?"

"I didn't say that."

"You might as well have!" Cat said, getting up from the couch and storming out of the living room.

Robbie sighed and April stared at him for a few seconds.

"You should just like... **not** comment on how big she's getting," April said. "She's really moody lately."

"I noticed, thanks."

"C'mon, Rob - you know she's sensitive. She'll probably be like this through the rest of her pregnancy."

"Lucky me."

"So... she's always saying she's 'ridiculously horny' these days. Have y'all done the dirty yet?"

"No? She's pregnant."

April snorted. "So? Do you know how many people have sex when they're pregnant? It's totally normal. Plus, you know, I heard when it gets closer to delivery, you can actually start labor with sex. It'd be a good idea, cause there's no way she's not gonna have problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"She's tiny stature-wise. It's gonna hurt her a lot when she has the baby. It'd just be a good idea to give her a little pleasure before she has to go through the pain that's partly your fault."

Robbie rolled his eyes. "We're seventeen, we don't need to have sex."

April's brows raised. "...Where the fuck was that logic **before** you got my sister knocked up?"

"Apparently not where it should have been."

"Are you staying the night tonight?"

"Yeah. She asked me to. She says the roads will be dangerous, and I don't feel like driving and getting killed."

April stayed silent for a few seconds before sighing and resting her head on his shoulder. "Yeah..."

"Sorry..." he said, resting his cheek on her head. "I forget sometimes."

"It's fine. We can't expect you to remember. It didn't happen to you."

"Happy New Year, Valentines!" Trina's voice called from the foyer.

"Living room!"

The Vega sisters walked into the living room, Trina sitting next to April and Tori sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Where's Cat?" Tori asked.

"In her room. Her boyfriend made her cry," April said.

"Now she's gonna be a Debbie Downer, thanks a lot Robbie," Trina said.

"I'll go talk to her," Tori said before leaving the room.

April giggled, playing with the necklace around her neck.

"What?" Robbie asked.

"I'm the middle of a best friend sandwich," April said.

"I'm not his friend," Trina said.

"No, but you're both my best friends. I'm the jelly."

"Have you been taking Cat's special vitamins?"

"No. It just popped in my head."

"We're losing her," Robbie said.

"The day she starts telling us what her purple giraffe did will be a sad day," Trina agreed.

"Cat?" Tori asked, walking into the redhead's room.

Cat sniffled and turned over in her bed to face her friend. "Hi..."

"Hi," she said, closing the door behind her. "How you feeling?"

"Like I wanna stab Robbie in the penis for doing this to me," she said, running her hand over her belly.

"Hey now, you helped him do that to you," Tori said, walking to the bed and laying next to her.

"Yeah but, he's the one that didn't pull out in time so I'm blaming him."

"That's a good argument, but you both participated. So, how was your first two weeks of work? Mom says you're doing really great."

"It was good. It gets a little boring during the slow hours, but it's not horrible."

"I heard you kinda got into it with one of the other workers' kid."

"That little bitch called me a slut. All I did was tell her to mind her own business and that what goes on with my vagina isn't her concern."

"Mom told me. She thought it was hilarious."

"I just know one of these days she's gonna fire me."

"No she won't. What makes you say that?"

"I'm getting really mouthy. These hormones are the worst! I yelled at Chris this morning for touching my hair. I've never done that before. I always let him play with my hair, and I yelled at him."

"Well, you're emotional. You don't like to be touched sometimes."

"Chris doesn't understand that, though. He doesn't realize that it's the baby that's doing it, he just knows that his sister was mean to him."

"Did you try to explain it to him?"

"No... his brain doesn't work like that."

"How does it work then?"

"It depends. Some days, I don't even know. He's really excited for the baby. He's really mad at me though because he thinks I ate it."

Tori snorted. "Come on, that's cute."

"Yeah, it is," Cat giggled. She looked down to her growing belly, sighing as she ran her finger over it. "I can't wait to meet her..."

"Me, either. I wanna hold her."

"I get first dibs."

"Of course."

The girls were silent for minutes before they heard a strange thump from down the hall.

"What the hell was that?" Tori asked.

"Chris. He probably knocked over his bookshelf again," Cat said as she got up from the bed.

Tori followed her friend down the hall in case Chris needed help, but the second the door to his room was opened, her eyes fell on the most disturbing and terrifying thing she'd ever seen in her life; Chris was hanging from the ceiling fan with a rope around his neck. Cat's ear-piercing scream brought her out of her daze.

"Mrs. Valentine!" Tori shouted as she ran downstairs. "Mrs. Valentine! It's an emergency!"

Tara ran out of the kitchen and placed her hands on the crying teen's shoulders. "What happened, are you okay?" she asked.

"Chris hung himself!"

The second the words left her mouth, Tara was darting up the stairs with Robbie following close behind before Tori, April and Trina made their way upstairs.

"Oh my god," April's voice cracked as she saw her brother.

"Get him down!" Cat shouted. "Please get him down, he can't breathe!"

"I need a knife," Robbie said as he lifted Chris's body up a little so the rope had some slack in it.

"I'll get one," Trina said before making her way back downstairs.

"One of you girls go call 9-1-1, the other get Cat out of here," Tara said.

"I'll call the ambulance," Tori said as she got her phone out of her pocket, hoping it wasn't too late to save her friend's brother.

* * *

"Mom!"

Tara turned around from speaking to a nurse when she heard Jade's voice. The teen ran to her and she wrapped her arms around her, rubbing her back.

"What happened? Is he okay?" Jade asked.

"He hung himself," Tara said. "He's alive. That's all that matters."

"God, what could... what would make him do such a thing?"

"It's Chris, honey. You know how he gets."

Unfortunately, Jade knew exactly how Chris could get. She'd known him her entire life and she's seen many suicide attempts. Even though they were all used to this type of behavior, that didn't make it any easier to deal with.

Her blue eyes scanned the waiting room for Cat and April. Once she spotted them she looked at Tara. "I'm gonna go sit with the girls. How's Cat?"

"She's shaken. She and Tori found him."

Jade walked over to the twins, sitting next to Cat and tucking a piece of red hair behind her ear. "Cat..."

Cat sniffled. "...he could have died," she whispered.

"He's fine, though. He's alive."

"It's my fault..."

"No it's not. Why would you think that?"

Cat didn't respond, she just let out a sob and leaned into her best friend, who wrapped her arms around her.

"She lost her shit on him this morning," April said. "She was in a mood and he touched her hair and she went off on him. She thinks that's why he did it."

"Cat... he didn't do this because of you. He did this because of his head. He's not there. He's handicapped, this is not your fault. You can't think like that."

"If I hadn't yelled at him..." Cat's voice cracked.

"It's Chris, Catey..." April said. "He would have done it either way. You know how he is."

"I want Robbie..."

"Where is he?" Jade asked.

"Our house with Tori and Trina," April said. "Tori was with Cat when she found him. She was still talking to the police when we came up here, and Robbie stayed behind to be there with them and to watch the house."

"Maybe we should call him to come up. Tori and Trina can house sit."

"He doesn't have his car. His mom dropped him off, and Tori and Trina walked."

"I'll go pick him up then. Call him and let him know. I'll be back soon. Keep an eye on her, make sure she's not showing any major signs of distress. We don't want the baby to get the brunt of this."

* * *

January 5th

 _18 weeks_

"But... Mom, we... we're sixteen, you can't leave us here by ourselves," April said.

When Chris was released from the hospital, he was immediately transferred to a mental institution in Idaho. Tara had informed the girls that she'd be moving to Idaho until Chris was stable enough to come home - whenever that would ever be.

"You'll be living with Nonna," Tara said. "I know this isn't light news, but your brother needs me right now."

"What about me?" Cat asked with tears in her eyes. "I need you right now too, I'm having a baby and I have no idea what to do, Mom... I can't do this by myself."

"I'll still help you, I'll just have to send money orders."

"I'm not talking about money! I'm talking about support! I don't know how to take care of a baby, I'll need you when she's born!"

"Cat, please calm down."

"Calm down!" Cat snapped, standing up from the couch. "My mother just told me she's leaving - **willingly** \- and I have to live with my grandmother, and there's a baby due in five months and you want me to **calm down**!"

April pulled Cat back down to the couch. "Seriously calm down, we don't need that kid popping out any sooner than it has to."

"I know that this isn't ideal," Tara said. "If I could take you guys with me, I would."

"Why can't you? Can't we just... transfer schools? And go with you? I mean, we're old enough to stay at home on our own, but we can't... live on our own, Mom."

"You're not going to live on your own, you're going to live with Nonna."

"I don't wanna live with Nonna," Cat said. "I wanna live in the house I grew up in and bring my baby home to her nursery, not to a one bedroom apartment! There's no room in that house for me and April when we spend the night, how the hell are we gonna fit a baby into it too?"

"Honey, it'll be figured out. I promise."

"But what about when I'm having the baby? You can come back to be with me can't you?"

"I can't answer that right now, honey."

"That's great," Cat said, standing up again. "My brother's fucked up in the head so he takes priority over your grandchild. That's **great**."

"Catey," April said as Cat walked out of the room.

"I'm taking a walk."

"I'll go with her," she said to her mother before grabbing hers and Cat's coats and catching up with her. "Catey, you can't hold this over her head."

"Why can't I? She's leaving us. How are you not pissed off about this?"

"I am, but I'm more worried about you than myself."

"I can't have this baby alone, April."

"You're not going to be alone. Robbie will be there, Jade will be there, and I'll be there."

"You don't even wanna be there when she's born."

"I find it a little... gross... but, I'm your sister. And - and when Mom isn't around, it's my job to make sure you're okay, and if Mom can't be there, then I will be. I'll be with you the whole way. Through the pregnancy, through labor, through delivery, through her life... I'll be there."

Cat sniffled as her eyes filled with tears. "I'm terrified, April. I can babysit, no problem. I've never taken care of a baby overnight, let alone for eighteen years."

"You won't be taking care of a baby for eighteen years. They stop being babies at like... three."

"But I'll be responsible for her for the rest of my life."

"Yeah, you will - but so will the rest of us. We're going to help you. Robbie's going to be a big help, and I'll be living with you, so I'll be there day and night whenever you need me."

"She isn't your responsibility, April..."

"Hey," April said as she stopped walking and turned Cat to face her. "We came into this world together. We're a packaged deal. We stick together, no matter what. No matter how pissed off we get at each other, we always hug it out. No matter what our opinions are, we always support each other. No matter what our struggles are, we're there for each other. I'm not going to live in the same house as you and this baby and not help. I'm going to be there for you and for her, no matter what. You and the baby are my number one priority. You always will be."

Cat's eyes filled with tears, causing her cheeks to dampen. "I love you so much..." she said, hugging her sister.

"I love you too. Even if I don't show it or say it often, I do. More than anything. You're my big sister, I'll always be behind you, no matter what."

"But, you came out first."

"Baby B came out first."

"Yeah. You."

"You."

"My entire life is a lie."

"That's what I said."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

January 9th

 _19 weeks_

"Oh my god!"

Robbie and April looked at each other, taking their eyes away from the video game they'd been playing. They both let their controllers fall to the floor and jumped up from the couch, running upstairs to Cat's room.

"What happened!" April exclaimed.

"Is it time?" Robbie asked.

"Stupid."

"It moved! She moved, I felt her move, she kicked me!" Cat said.

"No way," April said, walking to her sister and placing her hand on her stomach. A few seconds passed before she felt a very faint vibration. "Oh my god, she kicked. Come feel this, Robbie."

Robbie walked over to them and placed his hand where April's was. Cat poked at her stomach for a few seconds until the baby kicked again and they both smiled at each other.

"Wow..." Robbie said. "That's..."

"Amazing..." Cat said.

"Yeah..."

"...I'm over it," April said with a shrug as she walked out of the room.

Robbie kissed Cat's lips lightly. "I can't believe she's big enough to kick already..."

"Me either... God, Robbie - this is so... **real**. It's like, **really** real now."

"It is."

"The closer we get... I get more and more nervous. I mean, my mom leaves tomorrow... I'm moving to my Nonna's... I'm gonna miss you so much."

"I can still go to your Nonna's and visit you, Cat. Just because you're moving doesn't mean we're never gonna see each other again. We're having a baby."

"Yeah, but... There'll be three of us in that apartment and only one bedroom."

"I don't care about that. The size of your house or amount of bedrooms you have doesn't mean anything to me."

"Oh, but it should, because..." she pulled him closer to her. "If I don't have my own room, we can't **feel good** together," she whispered.

"Oh, oh, I - I get it now," Robbie said.

"Do you?"

"Yeah. Crystal clear."

"Then why are my clothes still on?"

* * *

Cat walked into April's room, sitting on her sister's bed with a sigh. "...I'm not ready to move..."

"Yes you are, I helped you pack your room," April said.

"Yeah, yeah... God, I wish Mom didn't have to go."

"Me too, but... we'll be fine. The three of us will be okay."

"Three?"

"...The baby?"

"Oh. Right," Cat rested her hand on her stomach.

"So uh..." April said, sitting up with a grin. "You and Robbie, huh?"

Cat raised an eyebrow. "...Yeah, me and Robbie. We've been together for a year now."

"Yeah, I know that. I'm talking about earlier today."

"What about earlier?"

"You and Robbie. Naked. **Sex**."

Cat's eyes widened. "How do you know about that?"

"You left your bedroom door open."

"No. It was closed, cause I opened it when we went back downstairs."

"I closed it because I walked past and saw you. Could you imagine Mom's face if she'd been the one to catch you?"

"She'd kill me," she said, covering her face. "That's embarrassing!"

"I've seen you naked before, chill out."

"Yeah but you've never seen me having sex before, it's not like we do it out in the open."

"You hardly do it at all. What was that, like the fifth time you've ever had sex?"

"Third..."

"Wait a minute - you've been together for over a year, you're having a baby together, and you've only slept together three times?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah. We don't base our relationship on sex, April, we aren't you and Ryan."

"We don't talk about him, shut up. Still, I mean... how can you go so long without?"

"We have self control."

"Apparently not if you left the door open."

"You were the last one to leave."

"How was I supposed to know you were gonna hook up? I thought you'd at least have the decency to close your door."

"Who stops the action and goes 'oh wait the door's open'? That's such a mood killer. And... I was like, really, really in the mood. It was so bad."

"Well, you got your fix, maybe now you'll stop complaining that you're horny all the time."

"I already want him again, it's like... an addiction almost."

"Well... I mean, you could always ask him to spend the night. Have him come back over. Mom's at Nonna's anyways, getting stuff ready. She won't be here."

"...That's true."

"So? Go get him, get your fix in before we have to leave tomorrow."

"You're the worst influence, encouraging underage sex," Cat said as she stood up and started towards the door.

"It's not like you can get pregnant or anything."

* * *

January 10th

 _19 weeks_

"So you're moving today, huh?" Tori asked.

"Yeah... I don't want to," Cat said.

"You love Nonna," Jade said.

"Yeah, but I don't wanna live with her. I can't do the stuff there that I can at home."

"She'll let you take naps and sing in the shower."

"I'm not talking about that stuff."

"She's talking about Robbie," April said. "Can't hook up with Nonna around."

"You horny little nutjob," Jade said.

"That's not the only reason," Cat rolled her eyes. "That part still sucks, though."

"Of course it does. I don't know what I'd do if that was something that got taken away from me."

"Good thing you can go to Beck's RV and do whatever you want whenever you want, then."

"Nah, not all the time. We still have to be smart. Wait until his parents aren't there, or wait until they're asleep. Have to be strategic."

"Hey," Tori said. "Why didn't Nonna just move in with you guys?"

Cat shrugged. "I dunno. But, what's done is done. It's already been decided and I already have all my stuff packed, so I'm not unpacking all of it in the same house it was packed in."

"I packed your shit, you little liar," April said. "You slept."

"Well excuse me for being tired, I work you know. Crap!"

"What?"

"I work after school today, I can't help with moving, not until after work."

"I'm on my own then? What the fuck..."

"I'll help," Robbie said. "I'm sure if you blackmailed Trina she'd help too."

"She's helping whether she wants to or not, I helped that dramatic bitch repaint her room."

"She's already thinking about repainting it again," Tori said.

"She's on her own then, I'm not helping again."

"Don't worry about moving - I'll help you guys."

"Me too," Andre said.

"So will Jade and I," Beck said.

"Don't volunteer me to do stuff," Jade said. "But, I'll help."


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

January 26th

 _21 weeks_

"Good afternoon, Cat," Holly said as she walked into the flower shop.

"Hi, Mrs. Vega," Cat said as she looked up from a notebook.

"Watcha got goin' on?"

"Homework."

"You don't have study hall anymore?"

"Yeah, but this is from a class after study hall."

"Are you behind in anything?"

"I have a few chapters in English to catch up on but I plan on doing that when I get home if I don't get to it before my shift's over."

"Well, take tomorrow off. Get caught up."

"I don't need to take off work, I can -"

"Just take the day off, Cat."

Cat gave her a small smile. "Okay. Thank you."

"Have we gotten any orders today?"

"Yeah. Eisley Funeral Home ordered twelve bouquets for a veteran's 21 Salute. I think it might have been a relative, cause the guy that came in to order was pretty shaken. I almost cried myself."

"It's a sad thing, a funeral. Especially a vet funeral."

"Yeah. I was too little to remember my granddad's 21 Salute. I think I was two. I wish he was still here. I mean, not just for me, but he would've loved the baby."

"Everyone loves her, sweetheart," Holly said, kissing Cat's head. "What time did you get here?"

"Three. School got out at two today. Something about a teacher's meeting."

"Well, it's six right now," she said, looking at her watch. "Since you got here an hour early, you can leave at seven."

"I don't mind staying."

"I don't want you taking any hours more than necessary."

"I just sit here, Mrs. Vega. I don't overwork myself. The extra hours would come in handy. Like yanno, working weekends."

"Weekends are eight hours, not four."

"Yeah, I know. I need the hours, I'm saving up for a baby, Mrs. V. They aren't cheap."

Holly sighed. "How about we do a trial run next weekend. And then we'll see how you do."

"I'll be fine. I promise."

"I'll take your word for it for now," Holly said before making her way to the back.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Cat called after her. She turned her attention to the computer as she heard the bell on the door ring. "Welcome to Flower Power, how can I help you?" she asked before looking towards the door. "Oh. Hi, Trina."

"Hi. I need a favor," Trina said, leaning against the desk.

"You have to pay for the flowers here, you don't get them for free just because your mother works here."

"I know that, I know the rules. This isn't about flowers."

"What's it about then?"

"Homework."

"I'm not doing your homework for you. I'm your best friend's sister, not Sinjin. Ask him to do it."

"I just need the notes from Parsons' class, you greedy little gnome."

"Well, now my feelings are hurt."

"Do you have them or not, Valentine?"

Cat rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Gimme a minute," she said, carefully getting down from the stool she was sitting on. "Why didn't you just get them from April?"

"She doesn't have them either, that's why I need them from you."

"She's never gonna graduate," Cat muttered and she bent down to grab her backpack. "Oh my god!" she gasped, holding onto the stool.

"What? What happened?"

"Um..." she let out a small breath. "I just got a really sharp pain. I'm okay," she said, picking her backpack up and shuffling through it until she found the notes. "Here. I need them back tomorrow, they have to be turned in," she said as she handed them to Trina.

"I'll get them back to you. Have I ever been unreliable?"

"You left my sister at a party. Drunk. Full of guys that were hopped up on alcohol and drugs. So yeah, you're unreliable as hell."

"Ouch."

"The truth hurts," she said, putting her backpack back where it was. Cat let out a small grunt, leaning on the counter. "Jesus Christ..." she whispered.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know."

"Mom!"

"I don't need your mom."

"What are you doing here, Trina?" Holly asked as she walked out of the back room.

"Something's going on with Cat."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm fine, I just got a cramp," Cat said.

"And less than two minutes ago she got a sharp pain," Trina said.

"Shut up, I'm fine."

"What does it feel like?" Holly asked.

"Like... period cramps. Cramps, you know. Tightening, that kinda thing."

"Can you stand up straight?"

"Nope. It hasn't gone away yet," she said, laying her head on the counter.

Holly placed her hand on Cat's stomach and pressed around for a few seconds. "You're having a contraction, Cat. Trina, go get your car pulled up front, take her stuff with you," Holly said, grabbing Cat's backpack and quickly putting her notebook in it before passing it to Trina.

"I can't have this baby right now, it's too early," Cat's voice cracked as Trina hurried outside.

"You're gonna be fine. It's normal, I promise. Brenda! I need you up front, I'm taking Cat to the hospital," she called out.

"Is everything okay?" A middle aged african american woman asked as she walked out of the back room.

"Cat's having contractions, I need you to take care of the desk. Can you clock Cat out at seven please?"

"Absolutely. Feel better, baby."

"Do you want me to call your mom?" Holly asked.

Cat nodded, letting out a muffled sob.

"Okay, alright. Don't cry honey, it's gonna be okay," she said, leading her out of the shop.

* * *

"That's stupid!" April exclaimed.

"No it's not, it makes total sense," Trina said.

"That's not what a sadist is, a sadist is someone that enjoys inflicting physical and / or emotional pain on others. So, I mean... Jade."

"Fuck you," Jade said.

"Watch your language, August," Grace said as she felt around on Cat's stomach. "Are you feeling any better, honey?"

Cat nodded. "Not much, but a little. They're not as strong, but they're still uncomfortable."

"Alright. If they do start feeling worse or you feel anything you think is weird, use and abuse that nurse call button."

"Felicia doesn't like me, she won't come."

"Well why are you sleeping with her then?" April asked.

"April Celine Valentine," Grace said. "You watch that tongue."

"Yeah, asshole," Cat said.

"Cat."

"What? I'm - I'm in pain and she's making fun of me!"

"Don't be a toddler. You two be nice to each other. Now, I called Nonna and she said she had to wait on someone to get a ride up here but that she'd be on her way. As soon as we get a full 12 hours of no signs of contractions you'll be released."

"Has anybody called Robbie?"

"I did, he said he'll be here soon," April said. "His mom was on her way home from work and you know how work traffic is, so she's gotta get home to pick him up and then come here."

"You don't think this means I'm gonna have the baby anytime soon, do you?"

"Not at all," Grace said. "This is your body preparing itself and you for labor. It feels like real labor, but it's false. Your cervix isn't dilated at all, so that's a good thing."

"Her water didn't break did it?" Trina asked. "Cause we came in my car. I don't want vagina water in my car."

"You're an idiot," April said. "She's not even dilated, of course her water didn't break. That would indicate she's in labor."

"Which I'm not," Cat said. "Stop throwing the L word around, I don't want any of you two-bits to jinx me."

"Excuse you," Jade said.

"Except you, you're not a two-bit, you're a three-bit."

"She could be an orbit," April said.

* * *

February 1st

 _22 weeks_

"Nonna, I'm fine, please stop fussing," Cat said.

"I just want to make sure you're comfortable," Nonna said.

"I'm comfortable. I'm fine. I've been out of school and off work since I went to the hospital. I do nothing but sit here and play with the babies, I'm getting restless," Cat said, standing up from the couch as the baby Nonna was babysitting started crying.

"Sit down, I'll get him."

"No. I'll get him. I need to move around, I'm starting to forget how to walk," she said walking to the high chair. "You still have to pick Max and Chloe up from school. I'll be fine with Darby until you get back. April will be home from school soon, she can help me with him."

"Are you sure?"

"Nonna! I'll be alright, I have my phone. I'll call you if anything happens. I promise."

"Well, alright... I'll be back in about an hour, then."

A few minutes later, Cat was sitting on the couch with Darby, laughing as he babbled. "Is that so? That's a horrible thing to go through."

"Yo," April said as she walked into the apartment with a blonde girl in tow.

"Hey..." Cat said, scrunching her nose. "What the hell is that smell?"

"It's me."

"And me," the blonde said.

"Why? And who is she?" Cat asked.

"I got thrown in a garbage truck - don't ask. And this is Sam. She got me out of the truck."

"How do you get thrown in a garbage truck?"

"I said don't ask," she said, sitting next to Cat and taking Darby from her. "Hey, Darby. Sup, dude?"

"Your body odor. Give him back and go take a shower, you reek."

"Darby doesn't think so. Do ya, bud? I smell better than his dirty diapers do."

"C'mon, go take a shower. Gimme the kid."

April kissed Darby's cheek and handed him to Cat. "He smells. You should change him," she said before skipping out of the room.

"She's no help, is she, Mister?" Cat asked as she laid Darby on the couch. "No she's not. She's gonna be the reason Baby Shapiro ends up an evil little gremlin, isn't she?" she rambled, pulling a diaper bag out from under the coffee table. "So uh... Did you happen to see how my sister got thrown in the garbage truck?" she asked.

"Yeah, she was in a dumpster," Sam said.

"A dumpster..."

"Some kids lost their kitten. She climbed in to get it. Didn't get out in time and the truck just picked her up and tossed her in."

"Sounds like something I'd get myself into," she said with a giggle as she started changing Darby's diaper. "Oh my god, Darby... Nonna's gotta stop giving you food with lentils. Jesus..."

"Now, that is a ripe baby."

"Yeah. Just lovely," Cat said as she got Darby cleaned up and in a new diaper. She picked him up and walked to the kitchen, throwing the diaper in the trash can before sitting the baby on the counter and washing her hands quickly before drying them off and picking him back up. "Are you from LA?" she asked. "You look familiar," she said, grabbing a couple of water bottles from the fridge and walking back to the couch.

"No, I'm from Seattle, actually. I've been in LA before, though. Went to this really awesome party at Kenan Thompson's house."

"Oh!" Cat exclaimed. "That's where I know you from, you're Sam from iCarly!"

"That's me."

"I sang with you guys," she said, handing a water bottle to Sam.

"You know, you kinda look like someone I saw there. But she was kinda this little nerd that had some stupid headband on. Couldn't talk or something like that but man did she have some pipes on her."

Cat looked at her for a few seconds. "That little nerd was me. And I only had the headband on because it talked for me. I had nodes."

"Oh... well... in that case, you've got a great voice."

"Thanks... I think."

"So, you uh... got yourself a little baby issue, huh?"

"Baby issue?" she asked. Sam pointed to her stomach and she looked down. "Oh," she said, running her hand over her belly. "Yeah. It's uh... it's not my finest moment."

"Well, if you're both healthy, then that's all that matters."

"We are. Healthy as can be. Just young."

"Age doesn't define how good a parent you are. I mean, it did in my case, but. Not everyone's like that."

Cat looked at her. "You have a baby?"

"No, no. My mom had me when she was my age. She's not the best, but at least I have a mom. Sort of."

"What do you mean sort of?"

"She's absent. She lives with me. Or did, when I was in Seattle. But, she wasn't always nurturing or anything like that."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. My mom was young, too. My age. That was with our brother, though. She was in her twenties when me and April were born. She's currently in Idaho with our brother, so she's not around at the moment, but she will be when she's able to come home with him."

"What's she in Idaho for?"

"Our brother Chris is mentally unstable. There's a facility in Idaho that thinks they're able to help him, and our mom went with him so he wouldn't be alone."

"So she left you and April alone instead?"

"No. She left us with Nonna. And she'll be back eventually. It's just... Chris is really bad. He doesn't understand right from wrong. He has no remorse. He doesn't have the right mindset. He's like... His brain is the brain of a four-year-old's. In a twenty-year-old's body. He's just really messed up. It's sad."

"Seems sad."

"Yeah... So uh... what are you doing all the way in Los Angeles?"

"Just wanted to see where my motorcycle could take me."

Cat's brows furrowed. "I thought the person controlled the motorcycle."


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

February 10th

 _23 weeks_

"Oh god!" Cat exclaimed as a hot dog flew by her head. "Sam!"

"Yeees?" Sam asked.

"Stop using your wiener flinger to fling wieners at me. I don't like wieners in my face."

April laughed. "Yeah, she likes them in her pus-"

"Shut up! Has Nonna called at all?"

"No. Stop worrying about her, she's fine."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm still mad at you two. You took my grandmother to Elderly Acres, who knows what could happen to her there?"

"She's being cared for and taken care of," Sam said. "There's nothing to worry about."

"You don't know that."

"You're getting on my last nerve," April said. "Nonna's fine. She loves it there."

"But she's not here. It's illegal for us to live here on our own, we're seventeen."

"Nonna already talked to the manager. He agreed to let us stay here as long as we found a way for rent to be paid. Which we will. Because we're taking over Nonna's babysitting service - and we're not using that god awful long as shit name you suggested."

Cat's brows furrowed. "I think it's clever."

"Sam Cat April's Super Rockin' Fun Time Babysitting Service is too long."

"I like it."

"Yeah," Sam said. "You like it. You also like The Waggafuffles. So there's that."

"You're mean."

"So is Jade and your best friends with her," April said.

"I've known her since our diaper days. I'm stuck with her for life."

"She's abusive, she cut your hair."

"In her defense, I... I did wax her eyebrows off."

"Woah," Sam said. "You waxed off a girl's eyebrows so she cut your hair? Man, I wanna meet this girl."

"No! No, you're both mean, you'd hate each other. Absolutely not."

"You're not my boss."

"You're not meeting Jade."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"Great, it's settled, we'll meet at Inside Out Burger."

"Good!"

April stood there, looking between them for a few seconds. "...You're an idiot," she said before leaving the room.

Cat bit her lip. "You trickered me, didn't you?"

Sam nodded. "I did."

"Won't be the last time."

* * *

February 14th

 _24 weeks_

"You alright?" Tori asked as Cat walked out of the bathroom stall.

Cat nodded and walked to the sink, rinsing her mouth out.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," her voice rasped.

"I thought you were over morning sickness."

"It still hits me sometimes."

"Isn't that a sign that you might be going into labor? You're only halfway there," Tori said.

"No. I'm fine. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"I'm sorry, it's just... you went into early labor already, it's scary to think about."

"Correction; I was having Braxton Hicks contractions. That's false labor. It just means my body's preparing me for actual labor. It's normal."

"I just don't want anything to happen to you, Cat."

Cat sighed and pushed her hair out of her face. "I appreciate it. But I'm fine. Really," she said, walking out of the bathroom.

Tori followed her. "Well, if you start feeling weird, just let me know, okay? I'll take you to the nurse."

"I'll be fine. I promise."

"How do you know?"

Cat stopped by Tori's locker and turned around to face her. "Tori, I'm not gonna say it again. I'm fine. Don't worry about it, okay? I just need to eat. Lunch is in two minutes, after I eat I'll feel fine."

"I'm just making sure."

"And I'm telling you I'm sure. Leave me alone about it."

Tori stayed silent for the rest of the time until the lunch bell rang. "It's lunch time, let's go get you something to eat," she said as students started filling the hallway.

"Tori!"

"I'm just worried!"

"Well fucking stop!" Cat snapped. "Jesus Christ, I've told you I'm okay, why can't you just believe me!"

"What did you do to her?" Jade asked as she walked up to them.

"I'm just making sure she's okay," Tori said.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes! Fuck!" Cat said before walking away.

"She's okay," Jade shrugged.

"She threw up," Tori said.

"She's pregnant, Vega. She's gonna puke."

"She should be over morning sickness by now. The books say so."

"Every pregnancy is different. Not everyone had a pregnancy like yours."

"Yeah well, how was I supposed to know that mine was -" Tori stopped talking and looked at Jade for a few seconds. "...How did you know that?"

"I do my research."

"God... please don't tell anybody. Please, Jade."

"If I was going to, I would have already."

Tori sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "How did you find out?"

"Freshman year. Trina was bragging about how cute her nephew was."

"Trina..."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why do we never see him when we're at your house?"

"Because I ask his dad to keep him."

"Why? So we don't find out about him?"

Tori shrugged. "That's part of it... I just don't want people to think less of me because I have a kid. It's a lousy feeling. I had to start homeschooling when I got pregnant with him because of all the ridicule."

"In society's defense, you were in eighth grade. That's something to be talked about."

"I know..."

"You need to give Cat a break. If she says she's fine, then she's fine. She doesn't lie."

"But she's secretive."

"About personal things. But not about something this serious."

"Jade!" April said, running up to them as tears slid down her cheeks. "Where's Cat? I need her, I need her now."

"Probably puking," Tori said.

"She walked off a few minutes ago. Towards the Asphalt Cafe. Why? What's up?" Jade asked.

"I just came out of the office, it was Mom. Chris is dead."

* * *

"April!" Jade snapped. "Calm the fuck down. Cat needs you. She needs you long enough to let her know what's going on."

"I ca - I can't - breathe," April sobbed between gasps of breath.

"Shit," she whispered, digging through her purse. "Fuck. Fuck! Tori, do you have asthma?"

"No - why?" Tori asked.

"She does, she needs an inhaler. She's having an asthma attack."

"Oh, god. Um... What about the nurse? Or - or Sinjin!" Tori said, pointing towards Sinjin. "Sinjin! We need you, it's an emergency!"

The awkward boy made his way over to them. "Sup, ladies?"

"Shut up, give me your inhaler," Jade said, taking his backpack from him.

"Why?"

"Because I said so," she said, digging through his backpack.

"It's not in there, it's in my pocket."

"Then give it to me!"

Sinjin took his inhaler out of his pocket and handed it to Jade, who shook it and turned back to April, who was now sitting on the floor against the lockers.

Jade put the inhaler in April's mouth and pressed the button as she inhaled. "Hold it, hold your breath."

As soon as April was breathing better, Jade tossing the inhaler back to Sinjin.

"How you feelin?" Jade asked.

"Better," April whispered.

"You okay now?"

"Mhm."

"Alright... now, what happened with Chris?"

"I don't know... I didn't find out. I hung up, I couldn't listen to her anymore," April's voice cracked.

"Okay. I'll call her and I'll find out."

* * *

"You're lying!" Cat yelled, throwing a water bottle at Jade, who moved and scowled at the redhead.

"No, I'm not!" Jade snapped. "I just talked to your mother!"

"He is not dead! He never dies! He always comes through, he's just - he's sleeping!" she screamed, throwing another water bottle at her friend.

"Cat, I don't know what to tell you other than I'm sorry, okay? I know it's hard, but he's - he's gone, Kitten..." her voice softened.

Cat sobbed. "He can't be. He always pulls through his attempts..."

"Not this time, Cat..."

Tears slid down the redhead's cheeks, another sob escaping her throat. "But... he's Chris... he doesn't die, he just... he hurts himself, but we always save him," her voice cracked.

"He's gone, Catey..." April said.

"But... that's not fair... he - he didn't get to meet the baby. He's not supposed to die yet. He's not old enough, he's not supposed to be with Dad yet, he's supposed to get better and come home to be with us so we can be a normal family again..."

April wrapped her arms around Cat, kissing the side of her head. "I know, but... maybe it was his time. You know how his head makes him think. He can't help it. This time, it was just... his body couldn't handle it anymore. He's with Dad now, there's nothing to worry about anymore."

"But he's supposed to be here... at home..."

"I know, Catey..."

Cat sniffled and cleared her throat. "How um... how'd it happen?" she whispered.

"I don't know..."

"He overdosed," Jade said. "Mom said he broke into the medicine cabinet while no one was looking and downed three bottles of Oxy."

"Was he in pain?"

Jade shook her head. "No. He was completely sedated. He was asleep before his body shut down. It was painless."

"Do you um... do you think he's happy?"

"Absolutely."

"He tried so many times, Catey..." April said. "He was prepared. He was ready. This is what he wanted. He just wanted to go home. God decided it was time to give him a break."

"God's an asshole," Cat whispered. "Do you think he heard that?"

"God hears and sees everything, Cat," Jade said. "He even hears the moaning."

"What moaning?"

"The janitor's closet moaning."

Cat's eyes widened. "Oh my god. How do you know about that?"

"God's not the only one that can hear it."


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

March 1st

 _26 weeks_

"April!" Cat whined. "Come on, I just got Darby to sleep, don't wake him up."

April poked the baby's cheek lightly. "He needs a diaper change."

"Well, do it while he's asleep. He moves when he's awake."

"It's just gonna wake him up."

"Not if you do it quickly."

"You do it then."

"Jesus - move," Cat said, lightly pushing April out of her way as she grabbed a diaper. "Is he just wet?" she asked, unfastening the baby's onesie.

"I dunno, I didn't check."

Cat sighed, carefully looking into the side of Darby's diaper before feeling the front and throwing the new diaper on the coffee table. "He's not even that wet. It can wait until he wakes up."

"What if he gets a rash?"

"Then I'll put some Desitin on him. I have common sense, April," she said, standing up. "Max, Chloe! Dinner's ready, come eat!"

"Aw man," Max said as he and his sister walked out of Cat's bedroom. "You're not making fudge piles are you?"

"Yeah, if we eat those we'll be chewing until we die," Chloe said.

Cat rolled her eyes, walking into the kitchen. "No fudge piles. Just macaroni and cheese and cheese and cheese and cheese."

"Yes!" Max and Chloe said.

"Hush. Darby's sleeping."

"Is it the same kind Nonna makes?" Chloe asked. "Hers is the best."

"The very same recipe," Cat said as she dished the macaroni into two bowls and setting them on the counter. "Get up here, you're not eating in the living room."

"Nonna always let us," Max said.

"Am I Nonna? I am not, I'm Cat. We'll leave the TV on, but you have to eat at the counter."

"Is Nonna ever coming back?" Chloe asked.

"She still comes over. She just lives somewhere else now. Next time you guys come over I'll take you to Elderly Acres to see her, alright? There's not enough time today, your mom's gonna be here soon, so hurry up and eat. What do you want to drink?"

"Orange juice."

"Max?"

"Milk," Max said.

As she walked to the fridge, she paused for a few seconds and looked over to April. "April. Come help me."

"You don't know how to pour drinks now?" April asked as she made her way over to her.

"I need you to call Melinda and tell her to get here as fast as possible and pick these kids up," she whispered.

"They're driving you nuts too? Thank god."

"I just got a contraction. I need Melinda to pick them up so we can call an ambulance and get to the hospital."

"What? Again? This is the second time you've had false labor, Cat."

"I know that. Call Melinda," she said as she opened the fridge and got the milk and orange juice out. "Alright, April's gonna call your mom to come get you a little early today, so you finish eating and then get your backpacks together," she said.

"Why are we leaving early?" Chloe asked.

"Because I'm having a little problem with the baby and I need to go to the doctor to make sure everything is alright, and I need April to come with me so there's not gonna be anybody to watch you."

"She's on her way," April said. "How are you feeling?"

"Tight."

"Go sit down, I'll handle the brats."

"Hey!" Chloe and Max said.

"Shush."

Cat walked to the couch and sat next the Darby, running her hand over her stomach as she took her phone out of her bra. "I'm calling an ambulance," she said.

* * *

"Fuck!" Cat exclaimed, squeezing her eyes shut. "Please make it stop, I can't have this baby yet, please make it stop," she sobbed.

"Calm down," Grace said. "Listen to me, we're gonna start you on an IV to stop the contractions okay? You're not dilated at all, you're not in labor. It's just false contractions, just like last time, honey. It's gonna be alright."

"But what if it turns into labor? I can't have her yet, it's too early."

"We're not going to let anything happen to your baby, I promise."

Cat watched as nurses hurried around her, poking and prodding her with IVs for blood tests, hooking her up to a fetal monitor, and checking her temperature and other vitals.

After an hour of annoyance, Cat was finally in a room with April at her bedside and Grace checking her chart.

"Are you feeling any better?" Grace asked.

Cat nodded. "Mhm..."

"What's wrong?" April asked.

"Well... what if this is a sign that I'm not meant to have this baby?"

"Don't say that."

"It's true. What if... this is my body rejecting her?"

"That's not what this is," Grace said. "This is your body preparing you for real labor. I promise you're fine, the baby's fine. Her vitals are normal. You're just getting false contractions."

"The feel real to me."

"I know. They suck. But I promise you're fine."

"But what if I have her too early? Mom, I've tried so hard to keep her safe and healthy. I'm know I'm a kid, but... I don't wanna lose her."

"Honey, you're not gonna lose her. She's fine, you're fine. It's just scary."

"I wish my mom was here..."

Grace kissed her head, pulling her into a hug. "I'll give her a call, okay? I'll see if she'll come to LA."

"She won't," April said. "With arrangements to get Chris's body prepped for transport, she'll be in Idaho for a while."

"Well, I'll still call her and let her know what's going on, okay? I'll have her call you girls."

* * *

March 3rd

 _26 weeks_

"Mom! I'm okay, I promise," Cat said into her phone as she sat at the lunch table with the rest of the group.

"Are you sure, honey? I can come back if I need to," Tara said.

"I would love that, but you need to deal with whatever you have to for Chris so we can have his funeral. Grace released me yesterday morning. She wouldn't have if she didn't think I was okay."

"I'm just worried about you. How's the baby doing now?"

"She's fine. She's kicking."

"How's April?"

"In lunch detention."

"Of course. How's Jade?"

"Jade's grumpy."

"Shut up," Jade said.

"She told me to shut up."

Jade took the phone from Cat. "Mom - she's been fuckin' with me all damn day, you're about to have one less child."

"Okay honey, but wait until after she has the baby," Tara said.

"And then I can kill her?"

"Have fun."

Jade handed the phone back to Cat. "She gave me permission to kill you after that kid drops."

"Mom!" Cat said.

"She's grumpy, leave her alone," Tara said. "Listen, I gotta go to a meeting. Call me after school okay?"

"I'll call you after work."

"Okay. I love you. Tell April to stop getting detention."

"I will. Love you," she said before hanging up.

"So, how's my niece?" Tori asked.

"Fantastic. I'll be twenty-seven weeks in a few days. It's going by so slow, though. I just want her out, yanno? I wanna hold her."

"Me, too."

"I get first dibs," Jade said.

"No, I do," Cat said. "And then you two can fight over her."

"What about me? I'm her dad," Robbie said.

"Okay, after me and after Robbie, you guys can fight over her."

"Have you picked a godmother yet?" Andre asked.

"Easy," Jade said. "Me."

"Or me," Tori said.

"Bullshit. I've known her since infancy."

"She's just as close to me as you."

"Who's her godmother?"

"April," Cat said.

"What?"

"My sister. If something happens to me, she's the next best thing to a mother my baby's going to have. She's stuck with me through everything and I know she'll do the same thing with the baby."

"You're not supposed to pick your sister," Tori said.

"Who says?"

"The laws of godmotherhood."

"That's not even a thing. Look, I'm sorry - I know you guys were looking forward to having the title, but that's exactly why I wouldn't have picked either one of you to begin with. One or the other would have been heartbroken, so I wasn't going to choose either of you."

"Well, ouch," Jade said.


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

March 21st

 _29 weeks_

"La la la la la," Cat said, covering her ears as she, Tori and Trina walked into the Vega house. "I don't wanna hear about it."

"You're gonna find out how much it hurts anyways," Tori said.

"I've already heard the horror stories, Tori, I don't need anymore, okay?"

"Are you scaring her?" Holly asked.

"No, just telling her how childbirth is."

"How would you know?" Cat asked. "You don't even have kids."

Tori scratched her head. "Um..."

"Honey..." Holly said.

Cat looked at Tori for a few seconds. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Tori said. "Sit down, I wanna tell you something that I haven't talked to you about yet."

"Okay..." she said, sitting down. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. It's just that, I think it's time you knew about something. We've been friends for a couple years now and it's important that you know about it."

"Know about what?"

"My son."

Cat looked at Tori for a few seconds. "What? You don't have a son."

"I do. You just never see him."

"You have a baby?"

"Yeah. Well, he's not a baby anymore. He's almost four."

"Four? Jeez..."

"I got pregnant in eighth grade."

"God, I thought I was young..."

"You are," Holly said, walking towards the couch and giving Cat a hug from behind the couch. "But you know what? You're going to be a great mom. You're young, but you're smart."

"I hope so..."

"Mommy!" A small voice called from upstairs.

Tori looked at Holly. "He's here? I thought his dad picked him up."

"He did, but his sister had a doctor appointment so he brought him home."

A little boy with black hair ran down the stairs and went straight to Tori, giving her a hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, baby," Tori said, kissing his head. "I want you to meet somebody. This is my friend Cat," she said, pointing to Cat.

"Cat!" He said, hugging the redhead.

"Hi, Tyler!" Cat said, hugging him. "How've you been, buddy? I haven't seen you in a while."

"I'm okay. Are you having a baby or are you getting fat?"

"Tyler Jacob," Tori said.

"I'm having a baby," Cat said.

"Is it Daddy's?"

Cat laughed. "No. It's not Daddy's. It's my boyfriend's baby."

"So it's not my brother?"

"Nope. It's a girl."

"Oh. So it's not my sister?"

"Nope."

"I wish it was. Mommy and Daddy won't have another baby."

Tori ran her hand over her face. "Hey Ty, how 'bout we talk about something else, honey?"

"You don't like babies?"

"I just don't wanna talk about babies right now."

"Can I ask one more question?"

"I guess."

"Where's she gonna come out?"

Cat grinned. "Well, I dunno, this is my first baby. I guess you'll find out when you have your own babies."

"Will I be your age?"

"Absolutely not," Tori said. "You'll be a lot older."

"How come? You got to have babies."

"Because Mommy and I weren't smart about our babies," Cat said. "We weren't old enough. We got into a lot of trouble. That's why you're supposed to wait to have babies when you're grown up."

"Does that mean I wasn't supposed to be born?"

"No," Tori said. "You were supposed to, I was just supposed to be older. But it's okay now, cause they let me bend the rules a little bit so you could be born anyways."

"Who's they?"

"The angels who gave you to me. They knew I was really young, but they knew you needed to be born, so they gave you to me early."

"Does that mean I'm an angel?"

"In a way."

"Where are my wings?"

"You don't get them until you go to Heaven."

"Oh. That won't be for a really long time."

"That's right."

"Besides, the best angels don't even have their wings," Cat said.

"Does that mean I'm one of the best?" Tyler asked.

"The absolute best."

"Why don't you go upstairs for a few minutes?" Tori asked. "Mommy wants to talk to Cat."

"Kay kay," Tyler said, giving Cat another hug before running upstairs.

Tori let out a small breath. "So... you already knew Tyler."

"Yeah... he's Danny's son. I used to date him. You know that."

"Right... and he never told you that I was Tyler's mom?"

Cat shook his head. "No. He just said that his mom every weekday and he got him on the weekends. I spent every weekend with him that we were together."

"Oh..."

"He spoke highly of you. Said you're an amazing mom. That you were both really young when he was born but that you work really hard to make sure he's taken care of no matter what."

"I do."

"I'm proud of you. I thought I had it hard because I'm only seventeen, but god, Tori... You were what, thirteen?"

"When I got pregnant. Fourteen when I had him."

"You're strong. I know how scary it is. Does the rest of the gang know about him?"

"I don't think so. Well, Andre does because he's met him. Jade knows because Trina was bragging about how cute her nephew was before I even knew you guys."

"She never said anything to anybody. I won't either. I won't mention him to anybody."

"They'll find out eventually. I'll tell them. I just... I'm really scared that they'll be mad."

"They won't be. I'll make Jade threaten them to be nice."

"That doesn't always work, Cat."

"Sure it does. It's Jade."

* * *

"Sam! What the hell is this!" April shouted from the bedroom.

"I dunno, I can't see it," Sam called out.

"It's an El Taco Guapo bag, it made Cat puke all over the place," April said as she walked into the living room, holding the bag out.

"Ohhh... I forgot I had that."

"Throw shit away when you're done with it," she said, throwing the bag away.

"She threw up because of a bag?"

"Because there's a rotten taco in the bag. The second the smell got to her nose she became a vomit fountain."

"She pukes a lot."

"She's pregnant."

"I thought she was just fat."

"Don't say that word, she'll cry," April sighed. "God, I can't wait until she has the baby. I'm so tired of her mood swings."

"I thought she was bipolar and that's what caused the mood swings."

"She is, but she can't take her meds while she's pregnant. It's a hassle."

"I bet. Oh hey, your mom called. She said she landed in Idaho and she'll be back within the week."

"I forgot she was leaving today."

"I thought she was back for good because you had Chris' funeral already."

"She is, it's just that she left most of her stuff out there because she took the plane that had his body. If she drove, she could have gotten it all, but she didn't. She's driving back, though."

"How was the funeral?"

April sighed, scratching her head. "It was okay... Catey lost it. Had a panick attack, we had to hold her back from trying to reopen his casket."

"Jeez..."

"She just kept screaming 'please wake up' and 'you can't leave us' and 'I can't live without you'," her voice cracked. "I'm terrified that she's gonna hurt herself."

"Do you think she would?"

April nodded. "She's known for it. She gets depressed and she hurts herself. When we were kids she'd cut up her legs. She'd hold her breath until she went unconcious. She'd try to drown herself in the bath."

"She doesn't seem depressed."

"She never does."

"Who never does what?" Cat asked as she walked into the living room.

"Jade never smiles unless she has an evil thought."

"True. Do we have any kids today?"

"No. We were supposed to have Ellie but she has the flu."

"Good. Hate that kid," Cat said as she walked to the fridge and got a water bottle.

"We all hate her."

"Stupid Poober. I'd like to stuff Ellie in a rocket and blast her to space."

"You're getting a little Jadey, babe."

"Doesn't seem to bother Robbie any."

"He's terrified of Jade."

"I know. And when we hook up, he does what I say because I turn Jadey."


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

April 6th

 _31 weeks_

"So, what are you naming her?" Jade asked, sitting next to Cat at the lunch table.

"I don't know yet. Not after you, that's for damn sure."

"What's wrong with naming her after me?"

"Because you and Tori have been fighting over it since you found out she's a girl, that's why. You're driving me insane."

"Hey, that's not true," Tori said. "We haven't been fighting over it. We've been fighting over godmother rights."

"And I already told you that April is her godmother."

"What if something happens to April?"

"Nothing will happen to April."

"You sure about that?" Jade asked.

"Leave her alone."

"I can't even have a little fun with her?"

"No because your fun includes blood and scissors."

"Kinky," Tori said.

"Shut up, Vega," Jade said.

"I already have a backup plan for if something goes on with April. Just trust that I know what I'm doing, alright? Besides, you don't have kids, so my alternative to April wouldn't be you in the first place," Cat said.

"Well, that's stupid, just because I'm not a parent doesn't mean I'm not a good choice."

"No, but I'd rather her go to a parent if April can't take care of her. Someone that knows what they're getting into."

"Whatever," Jade grumbled.

"Don't be grumpy," she said before letting out a grunt. "Jesus Christ, not now."

"What? What happened?" Robbie asked.

"She's kicking. A lot."

"You're not getting contractions again are you?"

"No. It's just kicking this time. I learned my lesson, I'll let you guys know if I'm having contractions."

"Please do, it scares the hell out of me when I'm called saying you're in labor," Tori said.

"I will. Can you give me a ride to the flower shop after school? Robbie picked me up this morning and he's gotta get home after school."

"Sure."

The group looked towards the parking lot when they heard the sirens of a police car and several ambulances.

"Oh my god," Cat said.

"Students of Hollywood Arts, we are going on lock down," the intercom said. "Anyone inside the building get to a classroom and lock the doors, anyone outside find your way back into the building and find a room. I repeat, we are going on lock down."

"What the hell is going on?" Jade asked as they all got up from the table and started making their way into the building.

"You don't think we have something serious going on here do you?" Cat asked.

"Why else would we be put on lock down?" Tori asked.

"There was a shooting down the street freshman year and all surrounding schools were put on lock down."

"Well, the cops and ambulances are here. Just try to stay calm. There weren't any gunshots, and there's no way we wouldn't have heard them," Beck said.

"Cat Valentine to the office," the intercom said. "Cat Valentine to the office."

"Why me?" Cat asked.

"They're not gonna answer you, just go. Be safe," Jade said.

"Cat," Tori's dad, David said as he approached the group. "Come with me, I'll escort you. Everyone else get somewhere. Now," he said before motioning for Cat to follow him.

"What's going on?" Cat asked as they walked down the hall.

"There was a fight, someone got stabbed. I want you to keep your eyes straight ahead and stay calm, okay? Everything's going to be fine."

Unfortunately, by the time he was finished talking, Cat's eyes had wandered and as they started walking past the main staircase she gasped, tears immediately pooling in her eyes when she saw who the paramedics and Helen were surrounded around.

"April!"

David grabbed Cat's arm when she tried to make her way to her sister. "She's going to be fine, you need to go to the office and cool down."

"No, she - she's hurt!"

"I can't breathe!" April sobbed. "I can't - I can't breathe!"

As David led her away from the scene, she saw April spit blood out of her mouth, which made her let out a sob. "Mr. Vega -"

"Cat," David interrupted. "I know. It's scary, but they're gonna get her to the hospital and I'll drive you up there, okay? Right now we're on lock down and I want you safe where I can see you," he said as they got to the office, locking the door behind them and pulling the shade down.

Cat sobbed, sitting down in a chair and David walked to the nurse's office.

"Do you have any vomit bags? I've got a girl out here that's gonna be sick in a few minutes," David said.

"Is it Cat Valentine?" The nurse asked, handing him a few blue bags.

"Yeah. Her sister was involved in the incident."

"I'll come check her blood pressure. Here's a water bottle for her," she said, handing him a water bottle from a mini fridge.

"Thanks."

David walked back to Cat and ran his hand over her back. "Deep breaths. I know you're scared, but I can't take you anywhere unless you're calmed down, okay?"

"What if she's not okay?" Cat's voice cracked. "Who hurt her?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss. My other officers are handling the suspect. You'll find out when we talk to your mom."

Cat sniffled and whimpered, letting out a small breath as she ran her hand over her stomach. "Calm down, Mommy's okay..."

"Are you having a contraction?"

"No. She's just moving," she said, leaning back. "Mr. Vega?"

"Yeah."

"Is she really gonna be okay?"

David nodded. "Absolutely," he said, opening the water bottle and handing it to her. "It's a serious injury, but it's nothing that can't be fixed."

"She said she couldn't breathe... she had blood coming out of her mouth."

"There's probably blood in her lungs. The ambulance is taking her to the hospital. The nurse wants to check your stats really quick and then I'll take you up to meet your mom. She's already been notified."

"Okay..."

* * *

"I wish you'd just let her hook you up, honey, she's just worried," Tara said.

"I don't need to be hooked to a fetal monitor every time I come to the damn hospital," Cat said. "We're not here for me, we're here for April."

"With the stress you're going through right now, it's a good idea to make sure the baby's okay."

"The baby's fine! I'm fine! Yes, I'm worried about my sister, but I'm fine! I'm not having contractions, I'm not feeling anything weird, she's just kicking! Kicking is normal during a pregnancy!"

"Calm down."

"I was calm until you started telling me what I need to do! Are you forgetting that you abandoned me for three months! You don't get to tell me what to do anymore! I live on my own, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

"Cat," Sam said as she walked over to her.

Cat sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"What happened?"

"April got stabbed at school," Cat said. "Got into it with our psycho cousin."

"The crazy one that pushed you down the stairs?"

"The very same. Mom, this is Sam. She's mine and April's roommate."

"It's nice to meet you, Sam," Tara said.

"Same. Not under the circumstances," Sam said. "How is she?"

"She's okay for now," Cat said. "She had blood in her lungs so they drained them and stitched her up. We're just waiting to see her. If they allow more than just family to see her I'll come get you. Did you get any word on the three bedroom?"

"Yeah, the manager said that family's moving out within the next month, so we'll be able to move in soon."

"You're moving?" Tara asked.

"Just to another apartment," Cat said. "It's just down the hall, but it's bigger, so it'll accommodate me, Sam, April and the baby a lot better. We'll all have our own rooms and I'll have the baby with me in my room."

"I don't think it's a good idea for April to go back."

"Why not? Once she's out of the hospital we'll be able to help her. Besides, this Friday is our last day of school because from the tenth to the seventeenth we're on Spring break and we'll be home to help her out all day."

"Yeah, but what about the kids you watch?"

"So? Sam and I can handle babysitting if April doesn't feel up to it. We know what we're doing, Mom. We do it every day."

"I just don't think -"

"I don't care what you think," Cat snapped. "For three months, we've been doing just fine on our own. Without you."

"You've gone into labor twice since I've been gone, Caterina."

"Don't call me that, God..."

"Are you forgetting that you're still a minor and until you're eighteen you'll do what I say?"

"Yeah, okay - David will have no problem backing me up on this."

"David isn't your father."

"Yeah, I know! He's fucking dead! Because you didn't stop him from going to the god damn store!" Cat shouted before standing up and walking down the hall.

Sam watched Cat for a few seconds. "I'll go walk with her make sure she's alright."

Tara nodded and Sam jogged to catch up to Cat.

"Hey..." Sam said.

"She's ridiculous," Cat sniffled. "I'm more adult than April is. I'm more adult than she is, at least I didn't abandon two of my kids just to try to save one - and then fail."

"She's your mom. You're lucky that she cares enough."

"My dad would understand."

"He's not here to back you up though. Your mom is right - she's still in charge of you."

"I don't care! If I live with her, then how I handle my baby will be completely controlled by her. I don't want that. I want to take care of her on my own. As soon as I graduate high school, I'm gonna do online classes at the community college so I can get my teaching permit and I'm gonna open up a daycare facility so we don't have to do it out of our house anymore."

"I don't mind doing it out of the house. I mean, think about the baby, too."

"What about the baby?"

"Well, you'll have to get her up, take her to the daycare, then pack her up and bring her back home. Instead of doing all that, why not just stay at home with her so she's more comfortable?"

"She'll be a few years old before any of this actually happens, Sam. She'll be fine. Mm..." Cat grunted and held onto the railing of the wall.

"What? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I keep getting kicked."

"Are you sure it's not a contraction?"

"I know the difference between a kick and a contraction, Sam."

"Just making sure."

"Fuck... fuck, okay - that's a contraction, I need a doctor. Now," she said with a strained voice.

"Hey!" Sam called out to a doctor down the hall. "We need help down here!"

The doctor jogged to them, kneeling next to Cat as she knelt down. "Hi, I'm Dr. Reynolds. What's going on, is this a pregnancy related issue?"

"I just got a really bad contraction and I'm only thirty-one weeks, this is the third time I'd had false labor," Cat said.

"Okay, not a problem. Do you have a preferred doctor here?"

"Grace West."

"I'll page her. Do me a favor and grab me that wheelchair over there," Dr. Reynolds said as he helped Cat stand up. "Do you have family here that needs to be notified?"

"My sister's a patient, my mom's in the waiting room," Cat said as she was lowered into the wheelchair.

"I'll go get your mom," Sam said. "Where are you taking her?"

"Forty two in the maternity ward," Dr. Reynolds said.

As Sam took off, Dr. Reynolds started wheeling Cat to the elevator.

"What's your name?" Dr. Reynolds asked.

"Caterina Valentine. I've been here before, Grace West is my primary."

"Okay. How old are you?"

"Seventeen. This can't be real labor can it? I mean, I've had Braxton Hicks twice already, that's all this is, right?"

"It could be false, but it could also be positive labor, so we're gonna get you hooked up to a fetal monitor and do some ultrasounds and check your dilation."

"What are the chances that I deliver today?"

"I'm gonna say it's a fifty - fifty. I've never heard of someone having false labor so often. This could very well be your delivery day, but I don't want you to worry, okay? When we find out exactly what's going on then we'll let you know."

"It's too early for her to come, I'm nine weeks early. That's too soon," Cat's voice cracked.

"We've got babies in the NICU that were born three months early. We've sent a lot of them home, your baby's going to be just fine."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Well, I'm promising you that your baby's going to be okay. I don't make promises I can't keep, but I promise you she'll be fine."

* * *

"I want you on bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy," Grace said.

"What? No!" Cat said.

"Cat, you've been through Braxton Hicks twice in the last two months and **this** was **labor**. We're lucky we got it to stop honey, you have to do everything you can to keep that little girl healthy so she can come when she's supposed to."

"No, please - what about school? Graduation? Work? I have two jobs, Grace, I can't just... not go."

"You can do online classes with Hollywood Arts. You'll be able to walk with your class, that won't do much damage. But your jobs will have to come to a halt until after you have the baby, honey. I'm sorry. I know it sucks, but your employers will understand."

"Am I allowed to go anywhere? To see my friends, to go baby shopping?"

"Every now and then, yes. But not an everyday thing. You keep stressing out, and stress is what made you go into labor."

"My sister got **stabbed**! Of course I'm gonna stress out!"

"Calm down," Tara said. "She's just letting you know what's making it worse, Caterina."

"What, I can't be scared? This is my daughter we're talking about. I almost gave birth nine weeks early, that's terrifying."

"It's very scary, but you still need to try to keep calm," Grace said. "If you stay on bed rest the last nine weeks then you'll deliver a healthy, happy baby with no complications."

"I want you to come home while you're on bed rest," Tara said.

"No. I have a home, and that's with Sam and April," Cat said.

"They aren't going to be home with you all day. They both have school, and April can't do anything extensive either, so she'll be on bed rest too."

"Sam is home schooled. She does her schooling online. She'll be home."

"It's not fair to her to have to wait on you hand and foot."

"Actually, I don't mind," Sam said. "It's no big deal, really. I do it for kids all the time."

"Cat's not a kid, she's seventeen years old."

"Yeah, but she's having a baby. So, it's still technically for a kid. And she comfortable at our place, so why uproot her when she's made a home for herself already?"

"I appreciate your concern, Sam; but I'm her mother and what I say goes," Tara said before turning back to Cat. "You're coming home. End of discussion."


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

April 9th

 _31 weeks_

"Caterina Hannah Valentine if I have to tell you to stay sat down you will be grounded from your own graduation," Tara said from the doorway of Cat's room.

Cat and April looked at her, the redhead narrowing her eyes.

"Okay, calm the fuck down; I was peeing. Stop treating me like a child," Cat said.

"Watch your mouth, young lady. You are a child, so get used to it."

"I'm seventeen, I'm not a little girl anymore."

"I don't care, you will do what I say."

"Mom," April said. "She's just worried about Baby Girl, you know how pregnancy hormones effect people. You don't have to freak out every time she gets out of bed. You can't honestly expect her to be in bed for nine weeks straight."

"Yes, I can. Because that's what Grace wants."

"What about what I want?" Cat asked. "I wanna move around, I'm getting sore just laying around in bed and it's only been a few days. I'm going insane. I don't want to be in bed, I wanna actually do stuff."

"Well, Grace says no, so you're gonna do what she says. End of discussion."

As Tara left, Cat rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"She's getting on my fucking nerves," Cat muttered.

"I feel you," April said. "I mean, I get it; I was stabbed. Could've died, but I didn't. I'm totally fine. I'm sore. But she won't even let me tie my own damn shoes."

"I'm ready to sneak out and go back home."

"You are home."

"No. This is our old home. We have a new home. And it's not fair to Sam that she's babysitting all those kids on her own. I mean, what's she supposed to do if she has one and has to go somewhere? She can't put a kid on her motorcycle."

"Your car and keys are there. She'll just take your car."

"No she won't, it's pink."

"Right."

Cat sighed and ran her hand over her belly. "God, I hope she's okay..."

"She is. Don't stress. That's what'll hurt her. So... you gonna tell her favorite auntie her name?"

Cat giggled. "I guess... Robbie and I have done a lot of talking and gone through a lot of names."

"And what did you come up with?"

"Ashley April Shapiro."

April smiled. "Aw... you're naming her after me?"

"Yeah. You're my sister. I know you better than I know anyone else."

"I mean, I'm already her godmother, doesn't get any better than that. How's she doing?" April asked, kissing Cat's stomach.

"Good. I mean... really, really, annoyingly active, but she's fine so I'm not too worried."

"Just stay calm from now on and there won't be any major issues. She'll be born on time and she'll be fine. You'll both be fine. And as soon as we're settled then we'll move into the new apartment when we're able to."

"I hope it's big enough."

"It will be. If anything, I can always bunk with Sam so you and the baby can have your own rooms. And who knows, maybe Robbie will move in with us."

"He doesn't have a job to pay for rent, April."

"So? He'll help with Ashley and the daycare kids until he can get one. Helping out can be his contribution. He can do all the manly things, like yard work and taking out the trash and fixing things that we need fixed."

"We both know he's not the manly type."

"He was manly enough to help you make that baby."

Cat rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

* * *

April 14th

"Don't tickle me," Cat said with a small laugh.

"I just want her to laugh," Robbie said.

"She can't laugh, she's a fetus."

"She can see and hear and feel us poke around on her."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she can laugh. She doesn't even know how to laugh."

"I can't wait to hear her laugh. She'll probably have the cutest laugh."

"Probably. But I'm more interested in what she's going to look like."

"She'll look like you and April."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I'm just hoping cause I was an ugly baby."

Cat scoffed. "You were not, you were adorable," she said as she kissed his lips.

"You were pretty."

"I was ugly as hell."

"No you weren't. You were beautiful then and you're beautiful now," he said, kissing her neck.

Cat grinned, her fingers running through her hair. "Well, I do try."

Robbie sucked on her sweet spot, letting his hand slowly slide under her shirt.

"Aw, look how cute you two horn dogs are," April said from the door way.

Cat groaned and looked over to her sister with a glare. "Seriously? We were in the mood, damn it."

"Yeah. Mom's gonna be home in like, fifteen minutes. There's no way y'all have time."

"We could have, had you not totally ruined the mood. What do you want?"

"What do you guys want from Braum's?"

"California burger and Sprite, you know that."

"Robbie?"

"Four cheese burger and Coke," Robbie said.

"I'll let Mom know."

"Good. Now get out," Cat said.

* * *

"So, how'd it go?" April asked as she sat next to Robbie on the couch.

"How'd what go?" he asked.

"Did you and Cat have sex?"

"Yeah."

"Was it difficult?"

"She was annoyed because being on top was difficult."

"Well... did you at least get off?"

"Yeah. It worked out. She just couldn't do any of the work."

"She hates being a bottom."

"I know."

"You getting excited about the baby?"

Robbie nodded. "Yeah. I can't wait to hold her. I'll just be happy when she's finally here so Cat can stop stressing out."

"She might not stress about the pregnancy, but she'll definitely stress about the baby."

"I'm tired of her stressing. I just want her to be happy."

"We all do. It's just going to be difficult for her. She's only seventeen, yanno? She's still a kid. You both are."

"She's freaking out because she can't work."

"I've already talked to Mrs. Vega. I let her know what was going on, Cat's still got her job, she just has to wait until she can come back. Mrs. Vega is really lenient because we're Tori's friends. At least, you two are. But... you know, maybe you could fill in for Cat. Until she can go back to work, yanno?"

"Would she let me do that?"

"It's worth asking. Ask Tori if her mom would allow it."

"I don't know if she'd go for it."

"You never know until you try. Just ask. Besides, you need to get a job. You're having a baby in eight weeks, and maybe less if she keeps going into labor the way she's been."

"It's hard to find a job when you're still in high school."

"I know. But that's something Cat and I were talking last week."

"What, me finding a job?"

"Kinda. You know how we babysit."

Robbie nodded. "Yeah, and?"

"Well, we're moving into a bigger apartment. Three bedroom. Me and Sam can bunk, you and Catey can bunk, and Ashley can have her own nursery. Cat's gonna need some recovery time, so you can help her with the baby while Sam and I babysit the other kids, and when Cat goes back to work you can do your part with Ashley and help us with the daycare kids until you can find something that works better."

"Yeah, good luck getting my parents to go with that. They've been on my ass about having Cat move in."

"Uh, no. Your parents are fucking nuts."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, you turn eighteen in May. So, it's not gonna be their decision anymore after that."

"That's true..."

"So, you gonna do it? It'd mean a lot to Catey. Besides, it's better for Ashley if Mommy and Daddy live together so she gets the normalcy... It sucks when you don't have both parents involved in your life, Robbie... Don't do that to Ashley."

"I would never do that. She's not even born and I already love her more than anything."

"You should. But I love her more than either of you do, I won't take any arguments."


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

April 28th

 _34 weeks_

"Tyler!" Cat gasped, putting her hands out as Tori's son jumped towards her. "You can't do that to me anymore, it'll hurt the baby."

"Tyler," Tori warned. "You have to be gentle with Cat, she has a baby in her tummy."

"When's the baby coming?" Tyler asked.

"In about five weeks," Cat said, pulling him up onto her lap.

"How long is that?"

"A little over a month."

"Can I hold her when she's born?"

"Absolutely. I'll tell you what, after me and Robbie and April hold her you can be the first person to hold her."

"Is that good?"

"That's special," Tori said.

"Victoria, I want that yard cleaned up this weekend," Holly said as she walked into the house from the back door. "Hi, Cat. I didn't know you were still here, I didn't see your car."

"I'll get it done," she muttered.

"Hi, Mrs. Vega. I moved it so Mr. Vega could get out of the driveway." Cat said.

"How's the baby?" Holly asked.

"Great. She's a kicker. I think she's gonna be a soccer player."

"Soccer moms are the best moms."

"Grandma, can I go to the flower shop with you?" Tyler asked.

"No," Tori said.

"Well, I was gonna say 'yes'," Holly said.

"He's in trouble."

"Uh oh. What did you do?"

"He dropped Cat's phone in the toilet."

"I'm sure it was an accident, he wouldn't do it on purpose."

"He took her phone on purpose though, and he knows better than to touch things that aren't his."

"It was ringing," Tyler said.

"You should have told Cat that it was ringing, then; but you shouldn't have touched it. Now she doesn't have a phone to call Robbie."

"So?"

"So, it's important that she has a phone. She has to be able to call people when she needs to. Cat's baby has had a lot of bad things going on, so if something happens then Cat needs to be able to call an ambulance so she can go to the hospital. She can't do that without a phone."

"Oh..."

"It really was an accident, Tori. I'll just go by the Pear Store on my way home and get a new one so I'll have it in case something does happen," Cat said.

"I told you I'd pay for it. I can't do that today."

"Then pay me back. It's fine, Tori. Really."

"If you're sure. But I'll pay you back as soon as I can."

"Okay. I should get home, my mom'll kill me if I'm gone when she gets home from work," she said, standing up and putting a diaper bag over her shoulder. "Thank you for the diaper bag, Mrs. Vega, I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Cat. If you ever need anything just let us know," Holly said.

"I have some of Tyler's old baby clothes, too. I'll bring them over and let you go through them. There's some neutral things that'll work for her," Tori said.

"Okay. Thank you. Bye, buddy," she said, bending down and kissing Tyler's head.

* * *

May 10th

 _36 weeks_

"Twins," Jade called out as she walked into the Valentine house. "I have homework for you."

"I don't want it," Cat said from the kitchen.

"Too bad. It's just history," the goth said as she met up with her friend. "It's only one chapter. Where's April?"

"Puking."

"Why?"

"She either took her meds on an empty stomach, she has the flu, or she's pregnant."

"Bet she's pregnant."

"I wouldn't doubt it, but we'll find out soon if she is."

"How's my baby?" Jade asked, kissing Cat's stomach.

"She's good. I wish she'd just come already."

"Me too, I wanna hold her."

"Yeah, well I promised Tyler he could have first dibs after me and Robbie and April, so you better make sure he doesn't see you."

"I think I trump a three-year-old."

"He's four."

"Whatever, same difference."

"He'll be five in December, that's almost a whole two years difference."

"Whatever. April says you guys picked a name. She was really excited, so I figure she's namesake."

"Her name is Ashley April Shapiro. But listen - you and Tori are my two best friends in the world. My next girls will be named after you guys."

"I'm not upset about it, I'm just giving you a hard time," Jade said, running her hand over Cat's stomach. "I know I've given you a lot of grief about this pregnancy, but I'm really proud of you. I don't know what it's like to be a pregnant teenager, so I don't know how hard it is, but you've gone through hell and I don't think I could be as strong as you."

Cat smiled. "Jade... I already knew all of that. I don't need to hear it to know. You're my best friend, I know you're not going to say anything bad about me."

"I did, though. When you first told us you were pregnant. I called you stupid. I said you wouldn't be able to do it."

"But you were right. I was stupid. We should have used a condom, we should've been more careful. We should have known the pull out method wouldn't work. We definitely won't be trying that again until we're older and ready for more kids."

"Which hopefully won't be until after college."

"But if it happens, then it happens and we'll handle it."

"Please be smart about it, Cat... One baby at seventeen is enough."

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna get pregnant anytime soon. I need to focus on Ashley first and foremost and if I'm worrying about another baby then I can't do that."

"Good girl," she said, kissing Cat's belly again. "Ashley... you better give your mom hell so she keeps her word."


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

May 12th

 _36 weeks_

"Oh, come on..." Cat grumbled as she dropped a book.

"I got it," April said as she picked up the book. "This is exactly why I carry my shit in my back pack."

"Yeah, I lean back far enough as it is, my backpack would just make it worse and my back's already killing me."

"Stand up straighter."

"I have a baby growing inside of me April, I can't just "stand up straighter". It'll put more pressure on my bladder and my pelvis and I'm already in pain."

"Maybe you should've waited until next week to start coming back to school..." April said, her brows stitching together in worry.

"Look, I just wanna get through these next few weeks of school and graduate. I'm tired of laying in bed. I'm sore. I hurt. Staying at home isn't gonna make it any better."

"Neither will coming to school."

"But it's not making it any worse either, so I'm okay with that."

"I don't like the back pain you're getting. I really think you should go home."

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I can deal with it."

"You can deal with what?" Jade asked.

"She's having back pain," April said.

"Can you not tell everyone my business?" Cat asked. "Jeez..."

"Back pain is normal in pregnancy," Jade said. "Especially in the third trimester."

"Yeah, but she's gone into labor a million times," April said. "And your mom put her on bed rest."

"Grace said I could come back to school if I was feeling up to it," Cat reminded her. "And I'm feeling fine, so shut up. You're getting on my nerves."

"Well someone's being a gank today."

"I'm tired! I'm hot, I walk with a waddle, I want this baby out of me, and I just wanna get to class so I can sit down, my back is killing me."

"We've got Sikowitz next period. I'm sure with it being lunch time he's not gonna care if we go in there. Especially with you being pregnant."

"Well then let's go, my back is starting to cramp up."

"I don't like the sound of that," April said as they started walking towards the class room.

"I don't like the feel of it."

As soon as they got to the class room, Cat sat down and let out a small breath, leaning back to crack her back.

"Don't do that, it could hurt the baby," April said.

"No it can't," Jade and Cat said.

"Don't be dumb," Jade said. "Cat cracking her back has nothing to do with the baby."

"I'm not dumb, I'm just worried," April said. "Jack ass. Don't you have someone to make out with? Like Beck?"

"He doesn't come in until the bell rings."

"I bet he doesn't come for a lot of things."

"He comes for me."

"Oh my god," Cat said.

"I know right?" April asked. "TMI, Jade."

"No."

"You wanna hear about her sex life? Freak."

After a few seconds of silence from the redhead, both other teenagers looked towards her. She had her chin to her chest, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands gripping her chair so hard her knuckles were white.

"Oh, shit," Jade said, rushing over to her and kneeling in front of her. "Hey, breathe, it's okay."

"What is it?" April asked, sitting next to Cat. "Catey, you gotta talk, what's wrong?"

"I need her out," Cat said.

"She's in labor," Jade said.

"Again?" April asked. "Jesus Christ."

"Are you pushing?" she asked, looking at Cat. "Don't push, okay? Wait it out, hold out for as long as you can, it's gonna be okay."

"Why is she pushing? Why are you pushing?"

"It relieves the pressure on her vagina," Jade said, taking her phone out of her pocket and dialing Beck's number. "Just keep breathing, Cat."

 _"Hello?"_ Beck asked.

"Grab Robbie and Tori and get to Sikowitz's class now."

 _"What's going on?"_

Jade gasped, feeling a sudden wetness on her thighs. She looked down for a few seconds before lifting Cat's dress up. "Jesus."

 _"What? What's wrong?"_

"Cat's water just broke and she's protruding already, get Robbie and Tori here immediately," she said before letting her phone fall to the ground. "I'm gonna take your panties off."

"What?" April asked. "Here?"

"Well, I need to see if she's crowning, but even if she's not, she's about to. Her vagina is protruding," she said, managing to pull Cat's underwear off. "Do you trust me, Baby Girl?"

"To do what?" Cat's voice cracked.

"I wanna see how dilated your cervix is. If you're dilated enough then you can push. You wanna push, don't you?"

"I want her out, please get her out."

"You don't even know how to check a cervix," April said.

"Yes I do. My mom made me and Beck learn how to deliver years ago. Cat, I can't check unless you tell me I can."

"Do it," Cat said.

"Get me the hand sanitizer."

April looked around for a few seconds before finally spotting the hand sanitizer. As Jade took her bracelets and rings off, the curly haired brunette grabbed the sanitizer and made her way back to the goth.

As soon as Jade got the sanitizer rubbed into her hands, she looked at April. "Help her to the stage. I need her on a flat surface."

Just as April helped Cat out of the chair, Beck, Tori and Robbie ran into the room.

"How is she?" Robbie asked, running over to Cat.

"I need to check and see how dilated she is, but I need her on the stage. Get her there pronto."

Robbie helped Cat to the stage and he sat behind her while Jade made her way to the edge of the stage and patted Cat's thigh.

"Spread your legs," Jade said. As soon as Cat's legs were apart, Jade gently felt around and let out a small sigh. "She's fully dilated," she said, looking at Beck.

"Oh, man," he said, walking to the stage and kneeling next to Jade. He lifted Cat's dress a little and nodded. "Someone let the principal know she's in labor, someone else call an ambulance, and someone else call Mrs. Valentine and Mrs. West."

"What are we gonna do until the ambulance gets here?" Robbie asked.

"We're gonna get this baby out."

"What? You don't know anything about delivering babies."

"Jade's mom made them learn," April said. "I'll call Mom, Tori go get Helen and see if you can find Andre to guard the door so no one comes in here."

"On it. Hang in there, Cat," Tori said before rushing out of the room.

"Do you think you're ready to push, Cat?" Jade asked.

"Please, please get her out," Cat's voice cracked.

"Go ahead, give us a little push."

Cat took a breath and started pushing, but within seconds let out a small cry and stopped. "It - it hurts my back, my - my tail bone is on fire."

Jade and Beck looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Help her up on her knees," Beck said.

As Robbie helped Cat to her knees, Jade got closer to the stage and ran her hands over Cat's legs soothingly. "We're gonna have to take your dress off Cat, it's in the way."

"No way, I'll be naked," Cat said.

"You can wear my shirt, but your dress is too long," Beck said. "You want this baby out, don't you?"

Cat nodded.

Beck and Robbie helped Cat out of her dress and Beck took his shirt off, helping her into it and pulling it down, just barely covering her bump. "Alright. Can I check and see how far down the baby is?" Beck asked.

Cat nodded again and Jade put some sanitizer in Beck's hand.

"Rub it in until it's dry, it'll burn if you check her when your hands are still wet," Jade said.

As soon as Beck's hands were dry, he felt around inside of Cat for a few seconds. "I can feel the head. It's pretty close. You wanna push?" he asked.

"I need her out, it hurts," Cat's voice cracked.

"Let's have us a baby then. Robbie, try to keep her steady. Cat, you put as much weight on me as you need to. This is gonna hurt a lot."

"I don't want it to hurt, please don't make it hurt."

"We can't do anything about the pain, Kitten," Jade said.

"How's it going in here?" Andre asked, poking his head in the door.

"She's about to start pushing. Don't let anyone into this room except Helen, paramedics, my mom or Cat's mom and Tori."

"Will do. Good luck, Little Red."

"I'm scared," Cat said.

"You have every right to be, it's your first baby," Beck said. "Push."

Cat stood on her knees and pushed, resting her hands on Beck's shoulders to steady herself as Robbie held her waist. "Ugh..."

"You're doing good, keep going."

She took a deep breath, pushing again and tightening her grip on Beck's shoulders.

April bit her lip and knelt next to Beck and Jade, running her hand over Cat's leg. "You got this, Catey. Keep going."

The redhead let go of her breath and breathed heavily for a few seconds before pushing again. "Oh my god..."

"You're crowning, keep pushing," Beck said.

"I don't want a crown, I don't feel like a princess right now."

"It means the baby's head is coming," Jade said. "Push again."

Cat took a breath and pushed.

"Good, keep going," Beck said. "That was a really good push, one more like that and the baby's head will be out."

"You can do it," April said.

"It hurts, please make it stop," Cat sobbed.

"The pain will stop as soon as the baby's out," Jade said.

"You can do this," Robbie said, kissing her shoulder. "You've got this. You're strong, you can do it. You wanna meet our baby, don't you?"

Cat sobbed again and nodded.

"You gotta push. Keep pushing, she's almost here."

Cat breathed heavily for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and pushing again.

"Push, push, push," Beck said just before the baby's head was completely visible and Cat let out a loud cry. "Good job Cat, her head's out."

"We gotta work on the shoulders and as soon as they're out, your baby will be here," Jade said. "Are you ready to push again?"

"No," Cat said. "I wanna go to the hospital."

"It's too late for that, the baby's half way here. You have to get her out, Cat."

"It hurts, I don't wanna do it anymore."

"We have to get her out, babe," Robbie said. "It's not safe, you have to push."

"It'll stop hurting soon Cat, I promise," Beck said. "But you have to push. You have to get the shoulders out. That's all we need is the shoulders and she'll be out. You can do this."

Cat let out a sob, resting her head against Beck's. "Please get her out, I need her out."

"Push."

The redhead took a deep breath and pushed, letting out a grunt. Another push, another grunt, and a cry later, Beck placed his hands between her legs, getting ready for the baby to arrive.

"One more, Cat. One more push and she's here."

"You can do it, Catey," April said. "You're so close, you can hold your baby in just a minute."

Cat breathed heavily and repositioned herself to get a steadier grip on Beck's shoulders. "One more push..."

"Just one more, Kitten," Jade said. "Are you ready to meet your baby?"

Cat nodded and sniffled.

"This is it, Cat," Beck said. "Take the deepest breath you can and push as hard as you can. Are you ready?"

"I want her out."

"Deep breath and push."

As Cat took the deepest breath of her life, she pushed as hard as she possibly could.

"Push, push, push, keep going."

Just a few seconds later, Cat let out a guttural scream and Beck held a crying baby to his chest, holding her so Cat and Robbie could see her face.

"Oh my god," April's voice cracked. "You did it, baby, she's here."

Cat let out a rack of sobs. "Oh, my baby," she said with a small laugh, carefully taking the messy newborn from her friend and resting her against her chest as she sat on her knees.

"I'm so proud of you," Robbie said, kissing her head.

"We just had a baby... oh my god, she's perfect, oh my gosh..."

"She's a cutie," Beck said.

"She's gonna be the perfect little gothic niece," Jade said, running her finger over the baby's cheek. "Hi, precious, I'm Aunt Jade."

"Thank you so much," Cat said, hugging Beck as she held the baby to her chest carefully. "I couldn't have done this without you, I love you. Both of you."

"We'd do anything for you, Cat," Beck said. "Besides, delivering my niece was pretty bad ass."

"You're so messy... I'm messy, she's messy, this whole thing is so messy and gross and you still helped me, I can't thank you enough."

"She's here, she's healthy and she's safe. I'm okay with the mess. How many uncles can say they delivered their niece? Probably not many. It was my honor."

Cat sniffled, looking at the baby and kissing her head. "Hi, baby girl... I'm your mommy..."


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

May 14th

"Stop pinching her cheeks," Cat said, hitting April with a burp cloth.

"She doesn't seem to mind it," April said, squishing her niece's cheeks. "Do ya, baby girl? You don't care, huh?"

"Well her mother does so stop it."

"Mommy's grumpy."

"Mommy wants Ashley to sleep so Mommy can sleep."

"Then go sleep. I'll keep her. It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"Except school. Which starts in twenty minutes."

"I should get maternity leave, too."

"You're not the one that gave birth, I am. Give her to me and go to school."

"Ashley thinks Auntie should stay home."

"April!" Tara shouted from the kitchen. "Get your ass to school!"

Cat grinned and took Ashley from April, kissing the newborn's cheek. "Hi, baby. How ya doin'?"

"Mean ass," April said as she stood up from the couch. "Bye baby, I'll see you in eight long hours," she said kissing Ashley's cheek before grabbing her backpack.

"Say 'bye bye Auntie'," Cat said, making Ashley wave.

"I want hourly updates."

"You'll get updates when you get home, go to school."

As April walked to the front door, Cat made her way to the kitchen and stood next to Tara as she washed the dishes. "Hi, Nonna."

"Hi, my precious," Tara said kissing Ashley's cheek. "How's it going?"

"Good. I think I'm gonna get her loaded up and go to Mrs. and Officer Vega's house for a little bit so they can see her," she said as she pulled the side of her tank top down, sitting at the table.

"This early?"

"It's almost eight, Mom. They'll both be awake."

"I'm talking about Ashley being so young."

"Yeah. They have two kids, they know how to act around babies."

"She's two days old, Caterina."

"And?" She asked as she got Ashley positioned to eat.

"She's too young to be out and about."

Cat rolled her eyes. "She's gonna sleep the entire time, she'll be fine."

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"I didn't ask your opinion on it."

Tara sighed, shutting the sink off. "Whatever, Cat."

As Tara left the room, Cat looked down at Ashley as she nursed. "Nonna's gonna be like that for a really long time. She's a helicopter mom."

* * *

"Oh my gosh, she's precious," Holly said as she lifted Ashley out of her car seat. "How are you even able to walk, let alone drive? You had her like ten minutes ago."

Cat laughed. "I'm not sore anymore. Thank goodness."

"I'm in love, I haven't held a baby since Tyler was a baby."

"Oh! Speaking of Tyler, is he here?"

"He is. Tyler! Cat's here, honey!"

"Cat!" Tyler shouted from upstairs. His tiny feet carried him quickly down the stairs, jumping off the last two before running to Cat and throwing his arms around her. "Cat!"

"Hi, buddy," Cat said, picking him up and sitting on the couch. "I missed you."

"I missed you too. So does Daddy."

"Tyler," Holly said.

Cat smiled. "Well, you tell Daddy I said 'hello' okay?"

"Hey," Tyler said, turning to look at her stomach. "How come you're not fat anymore? Did you lose weight?"

"Tyler!" Holly scolded.

Cat laughed and shook her head. "No, but I had my baby. That's her," she said, pointing at Ashley.

"Can I hold her? I wanna hold her, can I?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, but you have to sit next to me and you can't move her around."

"I don't wanna move her, I wanna hold her."

"Okay. Sit right here," she said, placing Tyler next to her.

"Be careful with her, okay?" Holly said, carefully handing Ashley to Tyler.

"She's little," Tyler said.

"Well, she's only two days old," Cat said.

"That's even littler than me."

"Yeah, she's brand new."

"What's her name?"

"Ashley."

"Can I call her Ash?"

"You can call her whatever you wanna call her."

"How's she sleeping?" Holly asked.

Cat shrugged. "Good, actually. She sleeps, but I have to wake her up to feed her because the pressure hurts too much to wait."

"Why don't you pump?"

"I don't have one. I really don't wanna bottle feed, I want her strictly breast fed. I guess I should start her on a bottle though. I can't just skip work until she's old enough to eat."

"You can always bring her with you. We're a small shop. Family owned and I'm the boss, so if you need to bring her with you then you do that."

"I don't want her to be a distraction."

"She wouldn't be. Just know the option is there."

Cat nodded and looked towards the door as it opened, revealing Trina and Tori.

"I don't care what you said to him, I don't want him hearing stuff like that," Tori said as Trina made her way upstairs.

"What did Trina say?" Holly asked.

"It wasn't Trina, it was Danny," she said as Danny walked in after her.

"Well I'm sorry, but I didn't say it to Tyler, so all's good," Danny said.

Cat looked away and took Ashley from Tyler, cradling her to her chest.

"I wanted to still hold her," Tyler said.

"In a little bit. I need to feed her," Cat said as she stood up. "I'm using your room," she said, making her way past Tori and Danny.

"Cat?" Danny asked.

Cat sighed and turned around, looking at him for a few seconds. "What?"

"You... have a baby?"

"Yeah."

"Oh... um..."

"What? I'm young? You're one to talk, you and Tori got knocked up in 8th grade."

"Hey," Tori said.

"I'm gonna go feed the baby," Cat said, making her way up the stairs.

She'd only been in Tori's room for a few minutes before the tall Latina walked in and closed the door behind her, sitting on her bed next to the redhead.

"Cat... is everything okay with you and Danny?" Tori asked.

"Why wouldn't it be? We're not together," Cat said, watching Ashley eat.

"There was something between you two down there."

"I don't have feelings for him anymore, if that's what you're asking."

"It's not... it's just... what is it?"

"I can't talk about it, Tori. I promised I wouldn't say anything as long as he stayed away from me."

"Oh... well, I didn't know you were here, I'm sorry I put you in the position."

"It's fine. It's not your fault. I just don't wanna be around him."

"What happened?"

"I can't tell you, Tori. I promised."

"Why can't you?"

"Because I don't break my promises. Just don't worry about it."

"How can I not? Did he hurt you?"

"Kind of."

"Did he... force himself on you?"

"No. No, it's nothing like that."

"Then what is it? Cat, you're my best friend. You can tell me anything."

"You'll be upset that I didn't tell you."

"Then tell me now."

Cat sighed and looked at Ashley for a few seconds before her eyes caught Tori's. "Danny and I were together while you were still with him."

"...What?"

"I didn't know. When I found out, I broke up with him. He begged me not to say anything because he said Tyler's mom wouldn't let him see him if she found out. I didn't know he was even with anybody, but I especially didn't know it was you."

"Cat, that's... that's not your fault. He cheated on both of us, then..."

Cat nodded. "Yeah..."

"Well... for the record, I wouldn't have kept Tyler away from him. Just because he hurt me doesn't mean he'd hurt Tyler. God, I thought you were gonna say he was Ashley's dad."

"Ew! No, I never slept with Danny. Robbie's the only guy I've ever been intimate with. Robbie's definitely Ashley's dad."

"Well... had it been an option, Danny really is a good father. We don't get along, but he's good to Tyler and that's all I care about."

Cat nodded. "I know... I used to be jealous because I don't have my dad."

"He's watching you. You know that, right? He's so, so proud of you."

"Yeah... when she's awake, she just... stares into space. I swear she smiled this morning. I think he's playing with her."

"Maybe he's her guardian angel."

"I hope so. But yanno, maybe it's Chris. Chris was so excited about her..."

Tori gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well, she's got two guardian angels that love her very much, so she doesn't have anything to worry about. She's protected."

"Let's hope she stays that way and doesn't end up like me."

"Like what?"

"Pregnant in high school."


	19. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

May 29th

"All graduates please report to the auditorium," the intercom sounded. "All graduates please report to the auditorium."

Cat sighed, looked at Robbie. "Are we finally graduating?" she asked, wrapping her arms around him.

"Seems like it. It's about time," Robbie said kissing her head. "Where's the baby?"

"April was showing her off to some people."

"I stole her," Beck said, making his way up to them with Ashley in his arms. "She's having a blast. She especially likes hanging out with Uncle Beck."

"Of course she does. Hi, girly. Are you chillin with your uncle?" Cat asked, kissing Ashley's cheek. "God, she's so big..."

"She's two weeks old, she's not that big."

"Shut up and give me my baby."

Beck kissed Ashley's head before handing her over to Cat, who laid her in her arms and swayed back and forth lightly.

"Hi, baby girl. I feel like you were gone forever," she said.

"Shapiro, Oliver, Valentine - you should be in the auditorium," Helen said as she walked up to the group. "Well hello there, aren't you just bright eyed," she said to the baby.

"I'll go hand her off to my mom," Cat said. "I'll meet you in the auditorium. See you after graduation," she said kissing Robbie's lips. "I love you."

"I love you too," Robbie said.

"Keep her with you," Helen said. "We have a surprise for you."

"But... I'm walking across stage," Cat said.

"You're gonna walk with her, just do what I said and get your butts to the auditorium."

As Helen walked away, Cat and Robbie looked at each other in confusion. "What's going on?" Cat asked, looking at Beck.

"Don't ask me. I don't know anything about this," Beck said before walking away.

Cat looked at Robbie. "You guys are lying out of your asses."

"I'll see you in line," Robbie said before following Beck.

Cat looked at Ashley for a few seconds. "Everybody's in on this. Something is up. Do you know anything about this?" she asked. "Didn't think so."

Roughly twenty minutes later, Cat was lined up by the steps of the auditorium stage like the rest of the group, gently bouncing Ashley to keep her calm and keep her from fussing.

"Andre Jamal Harris... Beckett Elijah Oliver... Robert Everett Shapiro..." Helen said, each friend walking across stage. "April Celine Valentine... Katrina Alexandria Vega..."

Cat's brows furrowed and she looked at Tori. "...She just completely skipped my name, what the hell is going on?" she whispered.

"I don't know," Tori said.

"Victoria Elizabeth Vega," Helen said.

"Are you kidding me?" Cat asked, her attention turning to Jade. "Do you know what's going on?"

"No, but if you don't shut up I'm gonna miss my name," Jade said.

"She **skipped** my name. I should have been after April."

"Jadelyn August West," Helen said.

Cat watched Jade walk past her and she scoffed, looking down to Ashley, who was quietly looking around. "Mommy suspects something."

"Caterina Hannah Valentine."

"There we go, that's better," she whispered before making her way up the steps and across the stage, stopping in front of Helen. She was handed her diploma like everyone else and shook Helen's hand, but unlike everyone else, when she started to walk to the other side of the stage, Helen stopped her.

"We have a very special graduate here with us tonight," Helen said. "Miss Valentine here has been through a great deal this year. She went through a difficult pregnancy and went into labor several times before finally bringing a beautiful baby girl into the world, right in this very school. Cat had a rough ride, but thankfully she and her little girl are happy and healthy and were able to walk across stage tonight," she said before looking at Cat. "You're the first student to give birth in this school and the staff of Hollywood Arts commends you for being so brave and so strong and doing practically the seemingly impossible. We're all very proud of you for sticking to your guns and completing school all while going through the most difficult time of your life."

Cat smiled and looked at Ashley for a few seconds before turning her attention back to Helen when the woman started speaking again.

"Because of all you've been through and your baby being the first and hopefully only baby born in this school, we'd like to honor her with the title of Honorary Graduate of Hollywood Arts and we hope to see her back when she's old enough to attend. That being said, Caterina Hannah Valentine, I also award you with the honorary certification of graduation for Ashley April Shapiro," Helen said, handing Cat a second diploma.

As the auditorium clapped and cheered, Cat hugged Helen before making her way across the rest of the stage and going straight to Robbie, hugging him after receiving a kiss.

"The graduating class of Hollywood Arts of 2017, congratulations. You did it," Helen said. "Can can now move your tassels over."

The entire auditorium cheered, all graduates moving their tassels from one side to the other, and the group of eight friends huddling together in a group hug.

* * *

July 4th

"Oh my god!" Cat shrieked as a firecracker exploded next to her. "Jade!"

"What? You were in my target zone," Jade said.

"You could have thrown it in the pool!" she said before another went off next to her, making her jump. "Are you serious!"

"Wasn't me."

"My bad," April said.

"Don't you know how to fucking aim?" Cat asked.

"Why are you so bitchy?"

"Because you dumb asses think it's funny to throw fireworks at me. Where's my daughter? Did you even think to look out for her first?"

"She's with Trina, don't trip."

"Well watch what you're doing. If she gets hurt because you two were being stupid I'll scalp both of you."

"Take a chill pill. You need a fuckin' nap."

"I need you to stop throwing fucking fireworks at me. I'm not in the mood, April."

"Alright, girls - that's enough," Tara said.

"Jade, I'm on call for firework related injuries," Grace said. "If you're the cause of any of them you're grounded."

"I was just -" Jade started.

"I don't care. Just don't do it."

"Fiiine."

"April, you stop throwing them at your sister," Tara said.

"It was a joke, it was harmless and I threw it far enough away that it wouldn't hurt," April said.

"I don't care. She wasn't feeling good last night, she was up and down so give her a break."

"Sounded like she was feelin' pretty good to me. "Oh, Robbie" and "right there" and "oh yeah baby, do it harder"," she said with a malicious grin towards her sister.

Cat rolled her eyes. "Shut up, April. I can hear you too."

"Inside," Tara said, looking at Cat. "Right now, young lady."

"What did I do?"

"Now."

"What the fuck..." Cat muttered, making her way inside while Tara followed her and closed the back door behind her. "What?"

"Are you having sex?"

"I've been having sex since I was fourteen years old, so yeah."

"Have you not learned your lesson? At all?"

"Oh my god Mom, stop being so paranoid."

"Caterina Hannah Valentine, if you end up pregnant again before you and Robbie find your own place, you're going to have to make other living arrangements."

"Are you - are you seriously trying to kick me out?" Cat asked, brows furrowed. "Are you seriously fucking going there? And for what, because I'm not the perfect little girl you always imagined me to be? I have other places I can go, Tara. So if you're just gonna kick me out from the get go, then let me know right now and I'll find other living arrangements. I'll go back to the apartments and live with Sam again. Give me the word and I'm gone, but I hope you can live with kicking your grandchild out on the streets."

"I didn't say Ashley had to leave. I said if you get pregnant again, you'll be finding somewhere else to live. I will not sit back and watch my seventeen-year-old little girl ruin her life because she wanted to feel good and have unprotected sex."

"I'm not gonna blow this up. I'm gonna go back outside and I'm gonna go get Robbie and we're gonna talk. And then I'll let you know what I'm doing and you'll never have to deal with us again," Cat said, walking towards the door.

* * *

"Cat, what's going on?" Robbie asked as Cat pulled him into her room.

"We have to leave," Cat said.

"What? What happened?"

"Please Robbie, just help me get the baby's stuff together, okay?" Cat asked, pulling a diaper bag out from under the bed.

"Cat, tell me what's going on. Why do you wanna leave all of a sudden?"

"We just have to, Robbie, please just help me. Please," her voice cracked.

Robbie took Cat by the arms, turning her to face him. "Talk to me. Right now. What happened?"

Cat's eyes filled with tears and her chin trembled. "Mom said if - if we get pregnant again, she's kicking me out."

"Okay? That doesn't mean we have to leave right now, though. If you want out that bad, we'll figure something out, I promise."

"We have to leave, Robbie. Please," she sobbed.

"Why so sudden?"

"Robbie..."

"What? What's going on?"

"We fucked up... we fucked up so bad, we should have - we should have waited until Ashley was older, we screwed up so bad..." she whispered.

"What are you talking about, Cat?"

Cat let out another sob. "I'm pregnant."

Robbie stared at her for a few seconds. "Oh my... god..." he said, pulling her into a hug as she sobbed into his chest. "Shh..." he said, rubbing her back. "It's okay... we're gonna be okay..."

 **TO BE CONTINUED...**

* * *

I plan on writing a sequel to this for sure. I know this wasn't the greatest chapter. I don't know when I'll start on the sequel, but I left this story this way so there would be a good cliffhanger to continue from. I have another story in mind that I hope I'll have the first chapter up in the next few days. Let me know your thoughts on this ending!


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